


Sword Art Online: Fantasy Becomes the Reality

by AzuzelMasteroftheForge



Category: Sword Art Online
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-26
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-23 08:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4870266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzuzelMasteroftheForge/pseuds/AzuzelMasteroftheForge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone knows how Akihiko Kayaba created the VRMMORPG Realm Art Online.  What they didn’t know, however, was that the mad scientist had found a way to literally bring the players into the game.  On opening day, thousands became trapped in the game, and are told that there is no way to return home whatsoever.  Basically a reboot of sorts for SAO, but with a twist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is basically my own take on SAO, but with some changes. Instead of the game being SAO, it is called Realm Art Online. As the name suggests, it is a combination of SAO and ALO, with my own tweaks to the overall game. So if you find something that is not in the other games, that's because it is my own invention specifically for this fanfiction. For example, instead of using simple swipes and commands to cook, you need to actually do all the preparations and steps by hand like in real life. The same goes for forging weapons, mining, etc. The story will mainly focus on Kirito, but there will be times where the focus is on other characters as well.

"Mr. Kayaba, do you have any comments on what players should expect to see while playing today for the first time?" a young and attractive reporter named Miriallia Hinato asked the man across from her. She was of medium height with light brown hair, with a large smile across her face. Akihiko Kayaba was of a tall, lanky build with black hair, and had a face that would have seemed almost weary if not for the look of pride on his face. They were talking about the man's greatest achievement, the VRMMORPG Realm Art Online that would be opening up to the public later that day.

"To be honest, Miss Hinato, I hardly know where to begin," Kayaba said with a slightly confidant tone. "There is so much in RAO that has never been seen or experienced before. It'll be just like they're actually there in the game. And, in some ways, they will be. They'll be able to interact with and move about the incredibly extensive and intricate world around them. There is so much to see and do in RAO, and the only limit is your own imagination, to put it in a nutshell." The game designer's face had by now lost it's weary look and was now absolutely glowing with pride and excitement.

Remembering something she heard from a previous interview, Miriallia asked with curiosity, "I've heard that some think that the Beta Testers will be some kind of faction that will make it hard for everyone else to progress in the game. Do you have any comments on this theory?"

Kayaba just chuckled to this, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Oh, trust me," he said a fake stage whisper, "there is no Beta Tester sanction, faction, guild, or any such thing. There has been several modifications and updates since they last played, so everyone will have to learn to adapt to the new virtual environment. If anything, the Beta Testers will most likely end up as guides of sorts for the new players. In fact, we have actually given special permission to only one player to be the entire game's News Gatherer. So as you can see, there is nothing to worry about in those rumors."

Miriallia's eyes widened in interest at this news. "A News Gatherer?" she asked excitedly. "What exactly does this player do, if that is allowed to be known."

After thinking for a few seconds, Kayaba carefully said, "Basically they gather information from various sources across the game, as well as having a few hints from the outside world as well. As to who this player is and the real details on what they do, you'll have to play to find out. You don't have to wait long to find out, though, since it will most likely become common knowledge at the game's Grand Opening or shortly afterwards. As a precaution, though, I suggest to the selected player that they should try to keep their identity a secret even in RAO itself."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well Argo," a young fourteen year old boy chuckled as he watched the interview on his computer, "Looks like you're gonna be a big hit even before the game starts." Kazuto Kirigaya was a little below 5' 8" with black eyes and slightly long but neat hair. His pale skin suggested that he spent most of his time inside his room rather than spending time with friends and family outside. He then turned to prepare his NerveGear equipment for the Grand Opening of RAO at 13:00.  _Just ten more minutes_ , he thought to himself in anticipation.

He hadn't played RAO since the Closed Beta Testing, and was anxious to see what the new updates would reveal.  It was during the Beta Tests that he met Argo.  He has since considered her an "ally", and a person he could trust.  However, he was not going to make the mistake of traveling with her like he did in the Beta.  He would still keep in touch whenever he felt like it, but that would be it.

He had been lucky to get the privilege to become a Beta Tester.  Out of over 20,000 people who got the game, only 1,000 got the change to participate in the Closed Beta Test.  Dedicating hundreds of hours of playtime, he was one of the few to actually make it to Tenth Level within the floating city/island Aincrad.  The Closed Beta ended not long after, so he couldn't get any farther.  However, he had been one of the top players, as the highest level he acquired during that was Lv.78.  He knew that his player would get reset to Lv.1, but he was okay with that.  He loved the challenge and looked forward to the countless hours of grinding to get back to his old levels and skills

 _Five minutes_ , he thought as he looked at his clock.  It was time to set up his NerveGear.  It was mainly a dark blue helmet with a dark, clear visor to cover his eyes.  The NerveGear was a creation by Akihiko Kayaba to enable players to interact with the virtual world of RAO.  The built in transceiver would send the essential fake signals to the brain to help ensure that the player would feel like they were within the game itself.  This was the main reason that RAO was so highly anticipated, as there has at the time been no other system that could even come close to it.

After connecting the cord attached the helmet to the computer, Kazuto laid down on his bed as he put the NerveGear on.  Since the brain would only be receiving fake signals from the transceiver, players are required to situate themselves where they could be comfortable and not fall.  This mostly meant the player's bed, as it is the best choice and recommended by Kayaba himself, stating that it would help with the process of bringing the player into the game as well.

Five seconds.  It was time.  Kazuto relaxed in his bed while looking up at the ceiling.  He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said the command to activate the NerveGear.  Two words that would forever change his life.

**"LINK START"**

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

**~PLEASE SELECT YOUR AVATAR~**

Kazuto blinked.  Usually there would have been a flashing array of colors before the avatar was selected.  Instead, he saw himself standing in front of an array of character types.  _Must be part of the new update_ , he thought absently as he looked at the races that call Realm Art Online their home.

There were many different races that populate the game, but only a few were available.  Each one had different capabilities and specialties.  For example, Dwarfs and Leprechauns are master smiths, Gnomes are superb miners, and Merfolk can live in both the land and the water.

One of the most common was the Sylphs, the RAO's version of fairies.  Known as the only species to use magic, making them very popular among players.  In addition, they are one of the few races capable of flight, another popular trait for newbies.  Their diversity in colors, spells, and abilities also help make them one of the top three races used by players.

Humans are also within the top three.  Though they cannot use magic, they more than make up for it with their ability to adapt to any circumstance.  Though not having as large of a diversity as the Sylphs, no two avatar appearances are the same.  They are the masters of the sword, and can handle almost any weapon imaginable, aside from scepters (As they are for magic users, only Sylphs can use scepters).

The last of the three most popular races is the Cait Sith.  They are humanoid creatures with the ears and tail of a cat.  They are popular for their skill =Beast Taming=, which enables them to tame several smaller mobs in the game.  These Familiars can be used as battle partners, healers, or simply lovable pets to play with.  They are also excellent trackers thanks to their enhanced senses.

Kazuto already knew what race he would choose since he had already tried out each one during the Closed Beta.  Sylphs were nice with their magic and he loved flying, but he really wasn't in the mood for them.  After all, he could just simply get some rare items that could use limited magic if he really wanted.  Cait Siths, well, let's just say that got sick of the ears and tail moving like they had a mind of their own.  This left one choice that was actually the one race he liked used the most: humans.

Once he chose the race, Kazuto then began the personal customization process that makes each avatar unique.  He decided to leave the avatar at his height and weight in real life, so that he would be able to move with the same amount of ease  as in real life.  In fact, almost everything was exactly identical to his real appearance outside the world of RAO.  The only thing he did change was his facial features, giving himself an attractive and almost heroic look.

Once he did the final adjustments to his preference, he then was given the command to choose a name.  He smiled, as he had already decided to use the username he had used during the Closed Beta.  A common thing players did when creating usernames was combing parts of their first and last name.  Using the abbreviations "Kiri" from Kirigaya and "to" from Kazuto, he typed down his username using the virtual keyboard that appeared in front of him.

**~Kirito~**

Once he entered his name, Kirito began to see the familiar flash of colors.  However, he began feeling a tingling throughout his body.  Without thinking of how he did it in the middle of game entry, he looked down.  What he saw caused his eyes to widen in shock.  His entire body began to turn into blue pixels and break apart.  With one final yell, his body flew apart, the pixels heading towards the light through the array of colors.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

With a groan, Kirito opened his eyes, revealing a brilliant blue sky speckled with clouds.  He slowly rose himself to a sitting position and looked at his surroundings.  He was sitting in a wide green field dotted with flowers of every color.  To his left was an incredibly large city.  He smiled, realizing that he was near the outskirts of the City of Beginnings.  This was the main starting point for all characters to start out, no matter what their species.  Here, you could buy your first weapons, supplies, and find and meet new friends.

He looked down to see the attire he had chosen for his avatar earlier.  He wore a blue long sleeved shirt with brown pants.  Over his shirt was a light brown leather breastplate-like vest.  His hands had tan finger-less gloves, which he flexed to check their mobility.  A belt of the same tan color was around his waist, while broen and tan boots covered his feet.  There didn't seem to be anything wrong with him that he could see.  He sighed in relief.  _That was weird how the entry into the game happened_ , he thought with a frown.  _A_ _new feature, maybe?_

He he stood up, Kirito noticed a slight pain in his right thumb.  Lifting his hand up, he saw a thin trickle of blood forming from a small cut.  _Weird.  How did I get that?_ _I did get a paper cut while looking through the game manual one final time_ , he thought, furrowing his brows. _B_ _ut that was in the real world, not RAO.  That's strange.  Maybe it's another of those new feature from the updates._   With a shrug, he began to make his way to the City of Beginnings.

A smile formed on his face as he looked to the west and saw the floating city of Aincrad in the distance.  "Hello World," he said in anticipation and declaration, "I'm back."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

Throughout the City of Beginnings, Kirito could see hundreds of players wandering the streets.  Many were in conversations with each other, looking at merchandise that NPCs were selling, or just taking in the sight around them.  He first stopped by a blacksmith shop to see look for a sword that he could start out with.  Finally settling with a black one handed sword, he paid the NPC the total amount.  He then proceeded to place his sword across his back.  Unlike most games, you had to equip your weapon with your hands in RAO.  This was one of the many features that millions of players were excited for.

 He then proceeded to purchase some in-game food for his avatar.  Not much at the moment; just some bread, meat, and cheese would be sufficient.  He had also purchased a small starter bag for storage.  Kirito remembered that as long as a player has a bag, they can carry around an almost unlimited amount of items.  As long as they were the correct size to fit in the bag, they could be stored for later use.  The starter bag wasn't very big, and could only enable him to carry small items like food; but he knew of a quest only a few miles away that would reward him with a very decently sized bag.

Looking around, he wasn't surprised to see the marketplace overflowing with players of every race and color.  It was the first day, after all.  The City of Beginnings would be crowded for a little over a week before players started heading outside the borders for the other realms.  He had visited each one at least ten times during the Closed Beta, and knew which ones were worth the long trek.  He himself was looking forward to trying to reach the Top Floor on the floating city of Aincrad, which was the capitol of RAO.  Before anyone tried to brave it, however, they wanted to make sure they had high enough levels.

Kirito didn't worry about this, as he knew which quests would reward him the most experience, and where to find the right places for grinding up his levels.  Once he had enough experience under his belt, he would head to Aincrad and start clearing out the dangerous mobs.  First though, he needed to practice his rusty sword skills.  Turning toward the East Exit, he began running to the outside of the city, where there were a few starter mobs he knew he could beat easily.

He stopped when he heard someone call out, "Hey Bro!  Wait up!"  He turned and saw a young man run up to him while panting.  He wore simple clothing in the form of a tan and brown outfit with a red and yellow bandanna holding his shoulder length red hair in place.  Some scruff decorated his chin, which was attached to a face that suggested he might be around the Beta Tester's age.

"What's up?" Kirito asked, wondering what the player wanted.  He was obviously a new player by the way he almost doubled over while breathing heavily.  At least he assumed he was a newbie, since he never saw him in the Closed Beta.  Then again, there was the chance that he had changed his avatar since then; but that seemed highly unlikely.

Once he got a hold of his breath again, the player looked at him and said, "You act like you know your way around here.  You were in the Beta Test weren't ya?"

Kirito shifted uncomfortably at his question.  "Um.  Yeah," he said in an almost nervous voice.

"Cool," the other player said as he stood up, revealing that he was about the same size as Kirito.  "Today's my first day, so could you give me some tips on the run around here?" he asked as he put his hand on the game veteran's shoulder.

"Yeah, uh," Kirito carefully said, "I don't know if-"

"Oh please.  I'm begging you," the redhead pleaded in desperation, going down to his knees.  "Look my name's Klein.  Good to meet ya," he added quickly as he shot to his feet with a smile.

Kirito was a little surprised at the outburst and sudden introduction, but he thought about his request.  It did seem reasonable.  All he had to do was give the newbie some pointers and maybe a sword lesson.  _Ah, why not?_ he thought to himself with a smile.  He looked at Klein in acceptance.  "Okay," he said.  "I'm Kirito."

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

" **Gah**!"

Klein yelled as he was flung to the ground with and "oof!"  The blue boar-like mob snorted in anger as it shuffled its feet.  Called a Frenzy Boar, it was only about four feet in length, with a bulky body, flat snout, sharp two inch long tusks, and glowing red eyes that clearly showed its agitation at being attacked by the novice player.

Klein lay in a fetal position in the grass, pain clearly written on his face as he clutched the place no man wishes to feel pain in.  "R-right....i-in the n-nuts," he whimpered as he bared his teeth in pain.  "Oh, j-j-just k-kill me now...."

Kirito just stood there with his hands on his hips as he watched the pitiful display in front of him.  He had brought Klein to the fields just outside the City of Beginnings to train him.  From what he was seeing now before his eyes, they had a long way to go.  "Oh, come on. Seriously?" he asked in exasperation.  "You can't feel any pain."  It was starting to annoy him that the newbie hadn't realized that yet.

"Oh yeah?  Then how come I actually feel like I received a boulder to the nuts," Klein growled as he began to stagger to his feet.  Pain was still evident on his face, which started to confuse Kirito.

 _Is he actually feeling pain?_ he thought in realization.  _How is that possible?  These updates are getting a little too weird if you ask me._   "It actually hurts?  It's real pain you're feeling right now?" he asked, wanting to clarify his suspicions.

"As real as a baseball hitting there in the real world," Klein grunted as he took a few steps to test is he could still walk.  "Doesn't seem to hurt as much as it did, though.  I think I can still take this overgrown piece of bacon."  He held his sword in his hands as he prepared to try to attack once again.

"Okay, if you're sure;" Kirito said, wondering if the redhead could still pull it off.  He could see that Klein's health was in the orange, showing that the blow must have been pretty hard.  "Remember what I said.  The first move is the most important when attacking."

Klein frowned as he glared at the Frenzy Boar.  "Yeah, that's easy for you to say," he stated while eyeing the mob.  "But he won't stand still," he added with a growl.

Grabbing a small stone from the ground, Kirito began to aim.  "If you do your initial motion right," he calmly instructed to his comrade, "And activate a sword skill at the right time...."  The stone began to glow red in his hand as he charged his attack.  With a swing of his arm, the rock shot towards the mob, striking it hard in the rump and taking a decent chip of it's health away.  "The system pretty much guarantees that you'll always hit your target.  The updates have made it rely on your own physical skills more though."

"Initial...motion?" Klein quietly said as he brought his sword up.  He didn't entirely understand what Kirito was trying to teach him, but he was determined to try.

The creature began to charge at Kirito as the Beta Tester continued his demonstration.  "Here's an easier way to look at it," he said as he stepped to the side to dodge the charge.  When the boar turned and tried to ram its head at him, his locked his sword with its tusk, causing some sparks to fly.  "Right after you start your move, wait for a little bit.  When you feel the skill start to activate, drive it home!"

"Drive it home?" Klein repeated to himself.  Instantly, realization flickered on his face.  Widening his stance, he brought his sword over his shoulder, as if he were going to swing it down.  The blade started to glow as he charged his move for the attack.  Kirito smiled at this, seeing that his message was received.  Swinging his sword up to break to lock, he slammed his foot into the mob, causing it to turn.  Seeing Klein, it began to charge, intent on impaling him with its tusks.

Once the glow was at its brightest, Klein began his attack.  With a yell, he shot forward and sliced the Frenzy Boar, dealing the final blow.  Its life bar sunk from red to nothing, and it fell down dead.  Blood began to flow from the long cut that Klein had delivered.  Kirito narrowed his eyes at this.  Normally the mod would have exploded in an array of blue pixels.  _Too many updates that are unnatural for this to be funny_ , he thought.

His attention switched to Klein when he heard his comrade give out a yell in triumph.  "Nice move," he congratulated his new friend.  The two brought their hands up and clapped them together in a high five.  He then added as he put his sword back in its scabbard across his back, "But that boar's about as powerful as Slimes in other games are."

"Holy crap!  You gotta be kidding!" Klein exclaimed in disbelief.  "I thought that thing was a mid-level boss!"

Kirito chuckled at this statement.  "Yeah, as if," he said in amusement.  He heard a familiar charge as he saw Klein attack at the air.  Seeing his friend's enthusiasm, he smiled.  "Addictive isn't it?" he asked.

"I'll say," Klein chuckled as he looked at the veteran gamer.  He swung at the air again to test his movements.  "So these skills," he said slowly as he prepared for another swing.  "There's a ton of them like blacksmithing and stuff right," he asked as he swung again.

"Uh huh," Kirito replied thoughtfully.  "I hear the game has an unlimited number of them.  All except for magic, though.  You have to be a Sylph to use that skill.  And who knows how many new skills came with the updates."  He watched as his friend shot forward with another attack.  Seeing the look of joy on the redhead face, he asked, "So what do you think?  It's kinda fun to move you body around when you fight isn't it?"

"Ho ho! Aw hells yeah!" Klein exclaimed while looking at his teacher.  Pride at what he had accomplished was clearly present on his face.

"You ready to move on?" Kirito asked.  He knew that they needed to practice his moves with more mobs.  Just one wasn't going to cut it in this game.

"Yeah, man," the redhead said in anticipation, "Let's keep going!"

 -------------------------------------------------------------------

They trained for several hours that day.  By the time they were done, the sun was beginning to set, giving the sky and clouds a brilliant mixture of bright and dark colors.  Kirito and Klein were at the top of a hill, looking at the vast world before them  Tired from training, Klein had opted to sit down on the grass beneath him.  Kirito chose to remain standing.

"When I look around I can't believe it," Klein said in wonder.  "We're inside a game, bro.  Whoever made it is a genius!  This thing's amazing.  Makes me glad I was born was I was you know?"

"It's not that big a deal," Kirito said nonchalantly.  He did understand where the redhead was coming from, though.  He had felt the same way when he first started playing RAO.

"Cut me some slack, it's my first FullDive," Klein said with a chuckle.

Kirito shifted his attention to his friend.  "You've never used a NerveGear before until today huh?" he asked in curiosity.  It was understandable, since there weren't many games that could use the NerveGear like Realm Art Online could.  "This is your first time ever?"

"Uh huh," came the reply from the player sitting down.  "As soon as I got the money together I rushed out and bought all the hardware to play RAO.  Stood in line and scored one of the 20,000 hard copies.  Guess you could say I was pretty lucky."  He looked up at his friend as he added with a chuckle, "Although, you sir were ten times as lucky getting to Beta Test it."  Kirito looked at him in confusion.  Klein explained, "Dude, only a thousand people got the chance."

"Yeah, I guess I was lucky," the Beta Tester said as he scratched his head.  He had never thought about it before today.  Sure he had been excited to get to be in the Beta Test; but he never thought that he was lucky.

Klein tilted his head as he asked, "Hey, can I ask you how far you got in the Beta?"

"Eh," Kirito said in thought, "Two months and I couldn't get further than floor eight."  The redhead looked at him in interest.  "But now I think I can get there within a month, easy," he added with a smile.

Klein smiled.  "Sounds to me like you're really into this," he said.  Kirito drew his sword at this statement.  His smile remained as he looked at the blade in his hand.

"Yeah, you could say that," he replied.  "During the Beta Test RAO was the only thing on my mind, day and night.  In this world, a single blade can take you anywhere you want to go.  And even though it's a virtual world, I feel more alive in here than I ever did in the real one."  He sheathed his sword, still smiling.  "Anyway," he added, "You wanna go do some more hunting?"

At this, Klein got up to his feet with a smile.  "You know it!" he exclaimed, bringing his hand into a fist.  "But the thing is..." he added nervously.  At that moment, his stomach decided to present itself with a growl.  "...I'm really hungry.  I have to log out"

"Too bad the food you eat here only satisfies your hunger virtually,"  Kirito said in understanding.  He knew the feeling all too well.  During the Closed Beta, he often lost track of time in the real world and was only reminded of this by his stomach.  He was determined to not do that this time around.

"Yeah, for reals!" Klein said.  He struck a pose as he added, "That's why I ordered a pizza for 5:30."

"Wow," Kirito chuckled at his friend's thoughtfulness.  "You're so prepared."  He honestly never thought of preparing like that.  He made a mental note to have snacks ready the next time he played.

"You know it!" his redheaded friend said with a nod.  "Besides," he adds with a bigger smile, "the game can wait until I get my pizza on."  Kirito frowned at this.  To him, RAO was more important than a pizza.  That didn't mean that he didn't know where Klein was coming from.  Not everyone dedicated their lives to gaming like he did.

"Hey," Klein said, bringing the gamer's attention back "I was gonna go meet up with some people I know from another game.  I don't know what you're up to after this, so....if uh....if you want you can friend up with em and hang with us," he offered with a small and hopeful smile.

Kirito shifted uncomfortably at this.  He did think that it would be nice to be in a group, but he just wasn't comfortable working in a team.  He always worked alone during the Closed Beta, so he never really gave much thought about working with others.  Sure, he did work with the occasional player from time to time, but he never stayed afterwards.  To be honest, he just didn't like the thought of being in a team.

Seeing his friend's nervous looked, Klein waved his hands as he said in understanding, "No, it's cool if you don't want to. No pressure."  He then added with a weary smile, "I can always introduce you to em another time or something."

Kirito still looked uneasy, but he replied, "Yeah.  Sorry."  He added while looking away, "Thanks anyway."  He did like working with Klein, but he just wasn't ready to be a part of a team.

"No way.  I should be doing all the thanking," the redhead said reassuringly.  He put his hand on Kirito's shoulder as he said, "Hey, one of these days I'll pay you back for all your help."  He then added with a wink, "Virtually that is."

Kirito smiled, relieved that his new friend understood.  He would look forward to seeing Klein again later in the game.  Maybe, just maybe, he may even consider taking him up on the offer of teaming up.  "Yeah right," he said to the last statement.  He didn't need anyone in his debt, whether it be friend or foe.

"Thanks for everything, man.  Really," Klein said as he held up his hand.  "Guess I'll see you around then."

With a smile, Kirito shook his friend's hand.  "If there's anything else you want to know," he said with a smile, "Message me."

"Sweet!" Klein grinned.  "I'll do that."  With a wave, he turned and opened up his menu.  As Kirito turned to leave, he heard Klein give a "Huh?"  He turned and saw his friend looking intently at his menu.  "Where did the Log Out button go?" he asked in confusion.

"It should be there," Kirito said, equally confused.  Out of all the weird things that happened in the game, this was the most troublesome.

Klein huffed as he looked again.  "Nope, it's not there," he said with a frown.

Kirito opened up his menu to show his friend.  "It should be at the bottom of the main menu..." he said before he did a double take.  The menu was vastly different from the Beta Tests.  All he could see were the options to see his status, equipment, and storage.  There was no Log Out button.

"See?" Klein said looking at him. "Not there."  The confusion he saw on Kritio's face was enough to give him a sense of uneasiness.

"You're right," the Beta Tester said as he viewed his menu.  "...It's not."

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While a lot of this will be part of my own story arc, I will still have many parts from the original anime in here. The first two chapters are mainly the same as they are in the original, although I did add some of my own elements to them. After this, though, I will be focusing on creating my own ideas of how Kirito survives in this new world. I'll still have chapters that take place during certain episodes, but I'll be adding my own flair to them whenever I can. I should probably add that Sword Art Online and all its characters do not belong to me. If they did, this would basically be what happened.

Kirito stared at the place where the Log Out button should have been in his menu.  _This doesn't make any sense at all_ , he thought in confusion.  _Why isn't the Log Out button available?  And why is the menu so limited?_

As he was trying to figure out what was going on, he heard Klein say absently, "Ah, well.  Today's what? The first day outta Beta?  There's bound to be some bugs."  He began to chuckle as he added, "I bet the server people are freaking out right now."  For all Kirito knew, his redheaded friend may have been right.  Even during the Beta Tests there were a few bugs that caused the game to be shut down.  This could all well just be another of those instances.

He looked at the left side of his vision, and was surprised to that there was no clock.  That didn't mean that he couldn't guess the time, though.  He'd spent countless hours in the Beta, giving him the time to roughly figure out the times without a clock.  He then realized something and noted to his friend, "You will too.  There's no clock on the hud, but I tell that it's close to 5:20 or 30ish."

A look of horror appeared on Klein's face as he gasped.  " **Oh my God! My Teriyaki Male Pizza and Ginger Ale!** " he screamed and began to cry.

With an amused smirk on his face, the Beta Tester asked his mourning friend, "Why don't you just contact the Game Master?"  If there was anything wrong with the game, the Game Master would be able to help.  Surely he would know what's wrong and how to log out.

Klein froze in mid-wail, then looked back at his menu.  "Yeah, I did that," he explained in confusion, "but nothing's happening.  He's not picking up."  He looked back at the contact information.  "Actually," he added with a furrowed brow, "now that I'm looking, I can't see anyone else in my contact info.  That doesn't make sense since I had already friended my buds outside the game."

Kirito raised an eyebrow and looked at his contact info.  "You're not the only one," he said as he viewed his empty contact list.  "I had at least three friends in the Beta and they're not on my list."  That didn't make any sense.  He would have at least expected Argo to show up as she was the official News Gatherer appointed by the Game Makers themselves; but she wasn't showing up.  The only person he could contact was the Game Master.

"Weird," Klein muttered as he looked through his menu.  Thinking of an idea, he looks at Kirito and asks, "Do you know if there's another way to log outta this thing?"  He figured that if anyone knew of a way, it would be the Beta Testers, as they were the ones most familiar with the game.

Thinking hard, Kirito couldn't think of any other way.  "No," he answered truthfully to the redhead in front of him.  "Whenever a player wants to log out of RAO, they can do it by going through the menu.  There's no other way."

Klein stared at him in disbelief.  "That can't be right," he exclaimed.  "There's gotta be some other way."  He began swinging his arms and saying commands; but to no avail.  All he succeeded in doing was look like an idiot.  If it were any other circumstance, Kirito would have laughed at his friend's futile tries.  This, however, was not any other circumstance.  This was very real, and very wrong.

"Told you so," he said glumly.  "And there was no emergency logout in the manual either."  "In fact," he added with his mind awash in confusion, "The menu is all wrong to begin with.  Nothing is the way it was in the Beta Test."

"No way," Klein breathed out in shock, "You're kidding."  He then grabbed at his head as he said in desperation, "I know.  I'll just rip the NerveGear off my head."  To prove his point, he began tugging at his head in an attempt to get the device he knew was there off.  Although it was an admirable effort, Kirito had to put him strait.

"Don't bother," he regretfully said, "Once you're hooked in you can't move your body in the real world anymore until you logout."  _Now that I think about it_ , he thought to himself, _I don't see any of the NerveGear hud icons that I normally would._   Not only was there not a clock, but he couldn't see his own life bar, which was strange since he could see Klein's and the mobs' just fine.

"The NerveGear intercepts all the commands from inside the game using an interface built into the rig," he explained further to Klein.  "Although these updates make everything seem lifelike, you're not controlling your real body.  It may seem like it, but you're not."

"Seriously?" Klein asked, a frown etched across his face.  "So now we gotta wait until someone gets around to fixing the bug?"  He couldn't believe this.  The creators of the game were extremely thorough in creating this system.  It almost seemed like someone didn't want them logging out.  The probabilities of that actually happening were next to none, but still.

"That," Kirito said after thinking a similar thing, "or until someone in the real world comes along and takes the NerveGear off us."  He knew that his sister Suguha would be coming home soon.  Once she or his mom realized that Kirito had not come down for dinner yet, they would find him and take the NerveGear off of him.

"But I live alone," Klein said in dismay.  He didn't want to be left in this game for all eternity.  His pizza would be gone by then!  Then he thought about his friend and his predicament.  "You?" he asked for clarification.

Kirito had a nervous look as he replied, "I got a mom and a sister....And I'm pretty sure they'll notice that I'm gone by dinnertime-"  Hearing this, Klein grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Y-you got a sister?" the redhead asked with an almost perverted gleam in his eyes.  "How old is she?  What's she like?"  Kirito had a clearly confused and nervous look on his face.  He did not like where this was going at all.

"U-um," he stammered nervously, "She likes sports and hates games.  And she's totally not your type, man."  He tried backing up, but Klein's grip was too strong.  "She wouldn't date a gamer if he's the last person-"

"Who cares?!  I wanna- **Ahh** **hha!** "  The last exclamation was from Kirito swiftly kneeing him in the crotch, sending him flying back and clutching every man's weakness in agony.  "That s-still works here, remember?!" he grunted as he tried to recover from the devastating blow.  After letting him wallow in self agony for a minute, Kirito decided to bring him back down to earth.

"This is serious," he said in irritation.  "Don't you think this is weird?  Nothing's the way it should be."  First it was the paper cut that somehow transferred to the game from real life, the fact that you could actually feel pain as if you were still in the real world, the mobs not disappearing after you killed them, blood having to be cleaned off weapons after you used them, and now the fact that no one can log out.  What was going on?

Klein looked up at him in disbelief.  He just kicked him in the nuts to ask him that?!  "Yeah totally," he replied as he staggered to his feet, "But it's just a bug."  He didn't see what the problem was.  The Game Master would report the problem to the server people would fix the problem.  There wasn't anything to worry about right?  But Kirito knew better than that.

"This isn't just a bug," he said as he looked out at the lands before them.  "If we can't log out, it's gonna cause some serious problems for the game."  Once word of this got out, there would be a chance that RAO would be shut down.  After all, who would want to play a game where you couldn't log out?  And the fact that there were bugs as soon as the game started wasn't encouraging, either.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Klein replied thoughtfully.  He only just realized the repercussions that could come with this bug.

"I wonder if the developers even know what's happening," Kirito thought out loud, "cause they could just shut down the server and log everyone out."  He then realized that not only had they not done anything to fix the problem, but they had also not mentioned it to the players.  "But why haven't they made an announcement?  Are we the only ones having these problems, or are they just not aware of the bug?"

Just then, the bell in the City of Beginnings' bell tower began to ring.  The ringing was loud and ominous, as if it signaled the end of all life.  Kirito and Klein looked off into the distance were the city was, a feeling of dread coming over them.  Kirito wondered if this was signaling the announcement of the bug, of if this was for something different.  He hoped that it was not to say that the game would be shut down.  After all the waiting, it would be a total let down.

Before either of them could say anything, they were covered in a flash of blue light.  In the blink of an eye, they were gone.  The creatures roaming the area continued on as if nothing had happened at all.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within the plaza at the center of the City of Beginnings, multiple lights began appearing, bringing with them players who had left the city.  Two lights flashed next to each other, revealing Kirito and Klein.  Realizing where they were, they began to look at what was happening around them.  More lights kept flashing, bringing more people to the city center.  Each one had a look of confusion and nervousness as they tried to figure out what was happening.  All the while, the bell just kept up its ominous ringing.

"Someone forced a teleport," Kirito said as the realization came to him.  Almost immediately after he said that, the bell stopped ringing.  This led to even more confusion as everyone present tried to understand the purpose of why they were there.

"Hey, look.  Up there," a voice said from within the crowd.  At this, all eyes shifted to the sky, where they could see a red panel blinking.  Although it was so high, the words that were labeled could clearly be seen.

**~WARNING~**

**~SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT~**

More panels started flickering on, gradually spreading until the entire sky appeared to be red as the dried blood from Kirito's thumb.  Everyone was horrified to see what appeared to be blood proceeding to seep from the cracks between panels.  As soon as they were right above the entrance to the plaza, the red globs began to combine, forming a shape.  Before everyone's eyes, a massive body-less red robed figure floated above them.  At least, it appeared that the figure didn't have a visible body.  There was no face were the hood opened, and the white gloves coming from the sleeves almost seemed to float in midair.

Despite the lack of a face, everyone recognized the figure floating above them.  It was the same figure that was the only person in everyone's contact list: The Game Master.

Bringing his hands up in a welcoming yet foreboding gesture, the figure began to speak.  "Attention players," his voice echoed throughout the city, even reaching the far corners of the game's world.  Even all the mobs and creatures stopped to listen to the voice.  "I welcome you, to my world."  What he said next no one ever saw coming.  "My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment, I am in control of this world."

Everyone stared at the figure once they heard this.  This was Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of Realm Art Online?!  Kirito at first felt a twinge of excitement, before it was washed away by a sense of dread.  What was Kayaba doing here? Why was he dressed as the Game Master?  And, most importantly, what did he mean by "my world"?

Kayaba continued his announcement, ignoring all the whispers and mutterings scattered across the city center.  Whether he chose to ignore them or couldn't hear them was unknown, as he had no face to give away his current emotion.

"I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus: the Log Out button."  To demonstrate, he opened up the menu and scrolled down to where the Log Out button should be.  "Let me assure you: this is not a defect in the game.  I repeat, this is not a defect.  This was how Realm Art Online was designed to be.  You cannot log yourselves out of RAO, and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the NerveGear from your heads.  The reason for this is simple: you are, from this moment, a living part or RAO."

As soon as the he said this, everyone began to talk over each other.  What did he mean by being a part of RAO?  And why couldn't anyone from the outside world be able to shut down the NerveGear?  _This doesn't make any sense_ , Kirito thought as tried to figure out the meaning.  _The only reason for that not to be possible would be...._   He stopped as he just realized what the game's creator meant.

As if to confirm his theory, Kayaba stated with a gesture of his hand, "From this moment forward, you have all had your consciousnesses downloaded into RAO's systems, turning you all into simple programs of the game."  People gasped or cried.  Others remained in denial at what he was saying.  One player actually grabbed the hand of who appeared to be his girlfriend and tried to leave the plaza.  However, they found that they couldn't leave, as there was a field that prevented them from leaving.  Obviously Kayaba wanted everyone to hear all that he had to say before he would let them leave.

"Are you listening to this crap?" Klein asked Kirito, thinking that this was all just a big joke Kayaba was playing on them.  "He's gotta be nuts right?  Right Kirito?"  The last question was to affirm his very slim founded beliefs.

Kirito didn't even look at his redheaded friend as he replied, "He's not.  I never thought about it, but there's a component to the transceiver in the NerveGear that's purpose is unknown. Since the transceiver can in a way download the game's system into your mind, it would be safe to assume that it could also download your mind into the system as well.  If what he's saying is true, then you can bet that it's a one way ticket."

To confirm this statement, Kayaba began to speak again.  "The NerveGear on your heads had a component only I knew the purpose of.  It downloads your minds into compatible data, and installs it into the game.  This leaves your brain in the real world with nothing to use and, as a result, shuts down permanently.  In addition, it should be noted that not even the world's top scientists will ever be able to reverse the effects, as I never found one myself."

Everyone paled at this.  Not even Kayaba found a way to reverse the effects?  This meant that there was no hope of ever returning home whatsoever.  A few fell to their knees and  began to cry at this.  What came next, though, was the most devastating blow of all.

"It's important to remember the following.  There is no longer anyway to revive someone in the game.  The only exceptions to this are the Sylphs, and they can only use a minimum amount of revive spells a day.  If your HP drops to zero, your life will be deleted from the system.  Forever.  Though your new body will remain, you cannot come back.  Ever.  Once you are dead for a certain amount of time, you can no longer be revived by magic.  Once this happens, you are dead not only here in RAO, but in the real world as well."

This was met with horrified silence.  There were no words to describe what everyone was feeling.  Except, perhaps, dread.  The fact that dying in RAO means to die permanently made it all the more horrific.  The once fun and exciting world they were in had now become a living deathtrap.

"I'm sure that some of you have also noticed that any injuries you acquired in the real world were transferred to here as well," the cloaked figure continued.  "The reason for this is that before you were transferred here, the NerveGear checked every sensation your brain was receiving up until the point of FullDive.  It gave the system an idea of the injury you had and did its best to replicate it.  Let it be noted that any players who have any kind of disabilities will have them in RAO as well."

"Last but not least," Kayaba added, "I've placed a little present in the Item Storage of every player.  Please, have a look."

As one, everyone began to check their Item Storage.  Each one had a peculiar item that was simply known as `Mirror`.  Once they were selected, a small mirror appeared in every player's hand.  Kirito looked at his mirror to see his own reflection.  _What's this supposed to be for?_   he wondered.

Suddenly, he heard Klein give a yell.  Turning quickly, he saw his friend disappear in a blue light.  All around him, players began to disappearing into similar lights.  Kirito shut his eyes as he felt his body begin to shift.  He knew that if anyone saw him at that moment, they would see the same blue flash of light.

Kirito found himself looking at the ground when he opened his eyes.  He heard gasps and yells of astonishment around him.  "You alright Kirito?" he heard Klein ask from behind him.

"Y-yeah," the Beta Tester replied as he turned around.  The man he was looking at, however, was not Klein.  He had the same build, but he looked older and had brown spiky hair instead of long red hair.  "Wait....Who are you?" he asked in confusion.

"I'm me," the mystery man replied.  "Who are you?"  At this, Kirito again lifted up his mirror, gasping at what he saw.  Staring back at him was the face he had in the real world!  All around them, people were shocked that they now looked like how they looked in the real world.  The young couple who tired to leave earlier were shocked to see that they were not only both actually guys, but they both looked ridiculous.

"Wait a second...." Kirito said in realization.  As one, the two young men spoke at the same time.

"Is that you Klein?"

"Is that you Kirito?"

"B-but, how?," Klein stammered out in shock.  Kirito only had to think for a moment before he realized what had happened.

"The scan," he said in a thoughtful tone, "There's a high density signal device inside the NerveGear rig.  It can see what my face looks like.  But how's it know my height and body type?"  That part he was stumped at.  Luckily, Klein was able to remember that.

"When you first put the NerveGear on," he said while remembering, "It had to do this calibration thing.  It asked you to touch your body all over like this."  He demonstrated by  touching over his arms and upper body.  "Remember?"

"Oh yeah," Kirito replied, suddenly remembering.  "You're right.  That's where it got our physical data."  It all suddenly made sense now how Kayaba was able do it.

"But....this is," Klein said as he held his head in his left hand  "What's the point?  Why would anyone do this to us?!"  Kirito replied by pointing to the floating figure above them.

I think he's about to tell us," was all he said.  Sure enough, Kayaba chose that very moment to explain.

"Right now," he began, "you're probably wondering why.  Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Realm Art Online and NerveGear, do this?  Ultimately my goal was a simple one: the reason I created Realm Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design.  As you can see, I have achieved my goal.  This marks the end of the tutorial, and the official launch of Realm Art Online.  Players, I wish you the best of luck.  Do your best to live out the lives you make here."

As soon as he finished saying this, the form of Akihiko Kayaba dissolved into red smoke that went back through the cracks between the panels.  Said panels then blinked out of existence, and the sky returned to his it's former look as the sun continued to set on the first day of everyone's life in RAO.  Everyone just stared at where the cloaked figure of Kayaba disappeared.  Everyone, that is, except Kirito.  He lifted his right hand and looked at the dry blood

 _It's not a game_ , he thought as he clenched his hand into a fist.  _It's real.  Akihiko Kayaba created a virtual world.  He designed the NerveGear rig.  The man's a genius.  I've been a fan of his for a long time, so I know....everything he just said....is the truth!  If I die in the game, I'll die in real life!_

As everyone's shock faded, so did their sense of calmness.  Instantly, the plaza was filled with either those screaming and trying to get away from the chaos, or those who were on their knees, crying as the gravity of the situation weighed down on them.  It was only then that the shield surrounding the plaza lifted.

As soon as Kirito noticed this, he sprang into action.  "C'mon Klein!" he said as he started heading for the outskirts of the city, pulling his friend along in the process.  Blocking all the screams and chaos around them out, he made his way to a small road that lead to outside the City of Beginnings.  He stopped to let Klein get his breath and to analyze the situation.

"Okay, listen," he said to the brunette , who was giving him all his attention, "I'm heading out right now for the next village.  I want you to come.  If what he said is true-and I think it is-, the only way we're gonna survive is by making ourselves as strong as possible."  He pulled out a map of the surrounding area.  "In an MMORPG, the money you can earn, the XP.  Once the game starts there's only so much of that stuff to go around."

He pointed to where they were on the map as he added, "Look.  The fields around the City of Beginnings are gonna be hunted clean soon.  If we head to the next village now, we'll have an easier time earning cash and points."  He then added reassuringly, "Don't worry.  I know all the paths and places we should avoid.  Even if I'm LV.1 I can get there easy."  He put his map away as he looked to see what his friend's reply would be.

"...Well, thanks..." Klein said in a nervous tone, "But....You know those friends of mine I was telling you about earlier....Well, we stood out for a whole night to buy this, and their back at the plaza somewhere....And I can't leave em..."  Kirito understood where Klein was coming from.  If he had any friends who were back there, he would have looked for them, too.

 _If it were just Klein_ , he thought sadly.  _But two more, or even one more._   That many people would slow him down significantly.  They wouldn't be able to get anywhere with that many people.

"Sorry," Klein said, bringing Kirito out of his thoughts.  "Can't ask a guy I just met to risk his life for a bunch of strangers can I?"  He continued to reassure the Beta Tester by saying with a smile, "So don't worry about me.  Get your butt to the next village.  I'll be fine.  The last game I played I ran a whole field so I'm more than prepared."  He added after a quick thought, "And with all the stuff you taught me I'll get by, no sweat."

Kirito looked at his friend for a few moments before finally saying, "Okay.  If that's what you want, I'll get going."  He turned and started to walk away.  He stopped and added, "But if you're in a jam, let me know okay?"

Klein, still smiling, gave him a thumbs up as he replied, "Sure."

Beginning to walk again, Kirito said while looking away, "I'll be seeing you.  Take care."  Head bowed, he started to head out.

"Kirito!" Klein quickly called out, making his friend stop.  "I....Hey, Kirito.  Uh....You look better like this.  Way cooler than your avatar."

Kirito turned at hearing this.  No one had ever told him that before.  He smiled and replied back, "Yeah, and I think that scruffy face fits you ten times better too."  He then turned and began to run.  When he stopped to look back, Klein was gone.  With a deep breath, he continued to race towards the city gate.  Every road and market he passed was empty as he ran by.  All for the better, probably, as it made his trip to the gate much easier.

Once he left the gate, Kirito began his journey toward the next village.  As he ran, he saw a wolf appear on the road ahead of him.  Drawing his sword, he continued to race towards his foe.  _I got this_ , he thought as he yelled while charging his attack.  _I can do_ _this._   He leaped into the air to strike as the wolf did the same.   _This world can't beat me._   With a final yell, he sliced the wolf open, killing it instantly.

He kept running, a look of pure determination on his face.  _I will survive._   With one final yell, he shot forward, not looking behind him for even a second.  This was his new life.  A life of survival and fighting.  A life on the run.  A life where he could do anything and go anywhere he wanted.

This, was his new reality.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fair warning to all you readers: Even though I'll try to get the next chapters up as soon as possible, it might still take a while. Between college and other things, I'll be stretched thin. However, I might be able to keep a schedule of at least one to two chapters a week. That is all. And now, on with the show!

**One week later**

The sound of thunder rolled across the city of Tolbana as rain fell down on the buildings below.  It had been raining for two days now, and the rain was still pouring down like someone had left the kitchen faucet on.  Everyone was inside were it was dry and warm.

Everyone, that is, except for one.

Kirito trudged through the streets, ignoring the rain that pelted him as he made his way on the soaked pavement underneath him.  He wore a hooded cloak, so he did not need to worry about becoming soaked as this cloak was waterproof.  That didn't make him feel any less miserable than he already felt, though.  The city's marketplace he walked through was empty and barren of any signs of life.  On any other day, this place would have been alive and filled with NPCs and novice merchant player trying to sell their wares to passing travelers and citizens.  This, however, was not one of those days.  The rain coming down gave the streets the swordsman walked through a gloomy atmosphere to them.

Kirito continued on with an equally gloomy frown on his face.  _It's only been a week and already 213 players are dead_ , he thought in anger and furrowed his brow.  Three days ago, 213 players went to try and beat the 1st Floor of Aincrad, the game's capital.  It was a foolish idea to begin with.  Even though their levels were too low, they thought that they would be able to win with their numbers.  After all, that many players would surly be able to get through to the dungeons at least, right?  This idea proved to be false.  They set out for the floating city with their heads held high, confident of their victory.

...They never came back.

 _The minute they get the courage, what do they do?_ he thought angrily while grinding his teeth. _They go marching off like they they can leap over mountains and get themselves killed!_ _How are we supposed to live out our lives here when we can't even live long enough to do that?!_    He couldn't believe the stupidity those men had shown as they arrogantly strutted to their deaths.  _I bet Akihiko Kayaba is laughing right know at our incompetence at succeeding at just staying alive right now._   At the moment, he wouldn't exactly say that he would blame the creator of RAO if he was.  He continued along on his way to the city gates, his feet splashed through the multiple puddles that littered the streets he walked on.

Ever since those men disappeared, Kirito began spending more of his time grinding up his levels in the forests than usual.  While there were plenty of mobs in the fields around Tolbana, they were still weak, giving him a replenish-able source of quick XP.  He had made good progress when only a week into life in Realm Art Online.  He had gained the weapon, `Anneal Blade` the first day after he left Klein in the City of Beginnings.  It was a sword that could be able to get through the thick hides of the mobs up until the 3rd Floor on Aincrad.  The fact that he had even had it enhanced to +4 helped make grinding a breeze.

He himself had gone quite a few levels himself.  At the moment, he was currently at Lv.10, which gave him an even bigger edge when fighting mobs.  He was planning on getting up to 11 or even 12 or 13 today.  There were areas he knew had higher level mobs that would yield more XP around the city's boundaries and the grounds just outside. 

But first, he had something he needed to do.  He had received a letter from a friend this morning asking to meet with him in the forest outside the city and the surrounding fields.  He didn't know why she wanted to meet with him, but he from what he knew of her during his time in the Beta Tests, she was not a fan of waiting.  Besides, whenever she has the time to ask to meet with someone, it's usually about something very important.

As soon as he passed through the gates, he broke into a sprint, heading for the forest.  He drew his sword and sliced through a mob that tried to attack him while still running.  Any other mobs that tried to hinder his progress were quickly cut down.  Despite the wet ground beneath his feet, he was still able to perform the necessary moves needed to kill the creatures that attacked.  Within a few minutes, he had made it to the edge of the forest.

He knew the place were he was to meet his comrade, as he had visited it a few times during the Beta.  He sheathed his sword, took as deep breath, and walked through the trees, entering the woods to rendezvous with his friend.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Water dripped from the branches as Kririto slowly made his way through the forest.  He made sure to keep his eyes and ears open, looking around and straining to hear even the faintest of sounds.  Even though he wasn't near any spawning point, he knew that a mob could easily be hiding in the foliage or the treetops, waiting for him to turn his back and strike.  Although he may have seemed like it, he wasn't paranoid.  After all, this was a video game that was a deathtrap that he now lived in.

He soon reached the clearing he was to meet his friend.  A tree stump sat in the middle of the clearing, with rain falling through the gap in the trees.  He suddenly stopped and slowly began to unsheathe his sword as he felt a presence creeping up behind him.  Through the pitter patter of rain falling and landing on the leaves and grass, he could hear the sound of mud squishing under feet from behind.  With one swift movement, he had unsheathed his sword, spun around, leaped at the figure trying to sneak up on him, and pinned the person down with his sword pointing at their face.

"Woah, there, Kii-bou!" the Cait Sith underneath him said with her hands near her face in surrender and her cat ears pressed down in fear.  She had blonde hair that reached her chin, whisker-like markings on her face, and yellowish green cat-like eyes that stared up at him.  She wore a greenish brown hooded cloak, a grey full-body cloth, and some light leather armor the same color as her cloak.  Recognizing the voice and facial markings, Kirito sighed, sheathed his sword, and helped his friend up to her feet.

"Don't do that again, Argo," he said, irritation clear in his voice.  "You shouldn't sneak up on me like that, okay?"

"I just wanted to see what you would do, though," she said with a playful tone, her ears twitching.  Her tail swished under her cloak as she brought her hands behind her with a smile.  This was the one problem people had when talking to the cat girl in front of Kirito.  Though Argo was in actuality almost an adult, she often tended to act like a ten year old child.

The swordsman sighed as he face-palmed.  "I came here because of your letter," he said, trying to get to the point of why they were there.  "What was it you wanted to tell me?"  Though he would've liked to catch up with his fellow Beta Tester, he wanted to know why she had called him there.  It had to be pretty important for her to call him out here.  He wouldn't expect anything less of her.  After all, she was made the official News Gatherer by the developers of RAO themselves (though she was better known as the infamous person called The Rat by most).

Instantly, the Cait Sith's expression changed to a serious frown.  "Right, here's the deal," she said after looking around to see if there was anyone around.  "You know the 213 players that disappeared in Aincrad's 1st floor?"  Kirito nodded.  "Well, I know what happened to them."

Her sword wielding friend's eyes widened.  "You do?" he asked in surprise, "How?"

"I went in to the 1st Floor on my own to see what I could find," she explained with a nervous look on her face.  "I found them all dead.  I had barely made it into the mountains when I found their bodies."  Kirito lowered his head, contemplating this.  "Here's the strange part, though," Argo continued in a whisper, "I only found 210 of the men.  Three of them must have survived."  Three survivors?!  If that were the case, then why hadn't they returned yet?  "Not only that," the Cait Sith added with a perplexed face, "but some of the bodies showed signs of being killed by a swordsman, which only means that the three unaccounted for might have been the ones to kill them."

Kirito's eyes widened at this new piece of information.  Not only had three players survived, but they had also murdered some of their comrades?!  "How do you know that it was the three survivors who killed the soldiers?" he asked quietly, a disbelieving look on his face.  "For all we know, they could have been killed by a sword wielding mob, right?  And they were dead for three day to top it off as well.  They must've been rotting and partially eaten from wild animals by now.  How can you be so sure?  And how can you be sure that the three people missing weren't just killed somewhere else?"

The Rat shook her head, replying in a small voice, "I thought the same thing at first, too.  But, when I looked closer, I saw that the men not cut by swords were ripped apart from beast mobs; with teeth and claws, not swords.  And the swords injuries were too clean to have been made by a mob holding a blade."  Her face had a look of a mixture of both confusion and nervousness as she added, "Not only that; but all the soldiers' weapons were missing.  Why would a mob take the weapons and not the bodies?"

Kirito folded his arms as he frowned  _She's right_ , he thought in confusion, _It couldn't have been mobs that took their weapons.  They don't have the programming to think of doing something like that._   There was the chance that they had been given a bigger thinking spectrum when they first entered the game; but he thought that that was highly unlikely.  That left only one alternative, and he was uncomfortable with the idea.

"So what are you saying?" he asked, looking at Argo, who had moved to sit down on the stump in the clearing.  "That the survivors took all the dead soldiers' weapons with them?  Not only that, but killed some of them?  Why would they do that?"

"How should I know", she replied with a shrug.  She closed her eyes as she pinched the ridge of her nose and sighed.  "Look Kii-bou," she said in a weary tone, "I only just got back, so no one else knows about this.  To be honest, I don't even think that they should.  That's why I asked you here.  I thought that if anyone were to think of what to do, it would be you."

Kirito started at this.  Usually, he tried to avoid instances where he was the one making decisions for others.  This, however, seemed to be a good exception to that.  He closed his eyes to try and think.  _The people are uptight right now as it is.  If word of the soldiers' deaths reaches them, it would ultimately destroy their will to continue to try to live.  And if they heard of the chance that three not only survived, but murdered some of their teammates, there would be an untold amount of panic.  And we still don't know everything yet, either._   He opened his eyes as he came to a decision.

Choosing, his words carefully, he said, "For right now, I think we should keep this to ourselves.  It wouldn't end well if the people learned of the soldiers' deaths right now.  And then there's the chance that the three missing men murdered some of the players themselves..."  He quickly added before Argo could speak, "I'm not saying that you're wrong, because you're usually right about these things.  That's the problem, though.  We simply don't know enough to make a concrete idea of what happened.  If word got out that there's three maniacs running around killing other players and stealing their weapons and tools, it would be catastrophic.  So for now, we keep this between the two of us.  At least until we know more."  Once he finished speaking, he looked Argo to see what she thought.

She nodded as she rose up form the log.  "I think that's a good idea," she said.  "That's exactly why you were a Beta Tester.  You're way smarter than you think you are."  She turned and started heading for the treeline.  She looked back with a smile as she said, "I'll see what else I can learn about this.  I'll let you know what I find anything."  She winked as she added, "See ya, Kii-bou.  I'll keep in touch."  With that said, the Cait Sith vanished through the trees, leaving Kirito standing in the clearing as the rain continued to fall.

 _That's Argo for you_ , he thought with a chuckle.  _She stays until she tells you what she has to say, then disappears again.  That's why she's The Rat, after all._   He stared at the place his friend once stood for a few moments, then turned and headed deeper into the forest.  There was an area with some high level mobs that he was itching to use his sword on.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

The Stinging Hornet shrieked as it was sliced in half by a swinging blade.  The two pieces of the three foot long green wasp mob fell to the ground with two wet and splashy thuds.  Kirito jumped over them as he decapitated one of the dead mob's swarm-mates.  He breathed heavily as he looked around the area, rain dripping down his already soaked hair.  All around him were the corpses of the swarm of the wasp mobs he had just finished killing.

He took a deep breath to calm his adrenaline, and stood up strait.  He swung his sword down to his right, flinging the blue blood off of the `Anneal Blade`, then sheathed in its scabbard slung across his back.  It was a habit he had picked up after the second day inside RAO.  It was actually pretty effective in getting the all of the blood off his blade; which was a bonus, since it was a pain to clean his sword after every battle.

Kirito frowned as he continued to think of what Argo had told him.  It just wasn't adding up.  What purpose would someone have to gain by killing another player?  Not only that, but what would they want with all the weapons they took?  It seemed a little extreme taking all the weapons from 210 people when you were only three in number.  _Maybe they have accomplices that need weapons to help them in their dirty work_ , he thought as stood in the rain.  That wasn't a very comforting thought.  If it only took three murderers to kill some of the 210 players with them and all their weapons, who knew what _more_ of them would do.

The sword wielding Beta Tester contemplated this as he began to make his way back to the city of Tolbana.  He had spent several hours grinding his levels as he thought about different alternatives for what Argo found.  He had managed to bring himself up to Lv.13, but also 14.  _Four levels in one day_ , he thought as he exited the trees and looked out at the city and surrounding fields before him.  _Not bad considering I've only been here for a week._   His face soured at this thought.   _Is this really what life is about_ _here?_ he mentally asked himself in frustration.   _To just keep fighting a_ _nd fighting until I finally die of either old age or fall in battle?_   He growled as he walked across the field as he made his way to the city.

He had a dark and angry aura around him so thick, it actually scared the nearby mobs, making them stay clear of the young teen as he stalked by.  As he entered the gates, he saw several players and NPCs going about their business in the rain.  His anger softened as he saw a family of the game's natural inhabitants smiling as they headed for the marketplace.  Kirito gave a small smile as he saw the two children run ahead, laughing as they danced in the rain that had now begun to gently come down.  He looked up at the sky, seeing that the clouds had lost their dark foreboding look and seemed to be slowly dispersing.

 _No_ , he thought as he saw a group of players sitting under the overhanging roof of an inn, laughing at a joke their friend had just told them.  _There's life here.  A peaceful and tranquil life.  A life away from the dangers that could easily lurk outside the city walls.  A life to be shared with those you know and care about.  A life that is the one thing Akihiko Kayaba can't take away from us._

 _This_ , he said mentally with a smile as he began to head back to his place, _this is how Realm Art Online is supposed to be._

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so the last chapter was a little short. Sorry about that, faithful viewers. I actually had to redo the chapter, as the connection had bumped out on me before I could even save what I had. This is my first fanfiction ever, so I'm still learning the ups and downs to this. Though there will probably be a few more short chapters throughout this story, I will be trying to make them a bit longer than Monday's. Of course, I'm not saying that the chapters will all be incredibly and painstakingly long, either. Anyway, please bare with me in this journey, and I will try to get the next chapter up soon. Once again, Sword Art Online and all it's characters do not belong to me (As much as I would love for it to happen, it's not).
> 
> PS: As an important part of this story, each chapter will be from either a few days, a week or two, to a month after the last one The longest time jump will be a month to a month and a half. I have no intentions on skipping through years like Sword Art Online originally did. And now, on with the show!

**Three days later**

Kirito put his fork down and sat back with a sigh.  He was sitting at a table in the corner of a tavern.  Voices filled the room as several customers laughed and talked in between eating.  With the rains finally ending three days ago, so did the gloomy atmosphere in the city of Tolbana.  It was peaceful and tranquil, a nice change from the constant fear of being killed by monsters as soon as you turned your back.  Now, the people who called the city their home were enjoying the warm food, fellowship, and exploration of the alleys and streets.

Kirito himself had just finished a satisfying lunch.  He had been out grinding his levels again, and had worked up quite the appetite.  He was now at Lv.19, and was considering what to do next.  He thought that he should take a break from the mob hunting for a day or two.  It wasn't like they would all be gone at any moment.  The game personally made sure that there were plenty of mobs and non-dangerous creatures around.  He closed his eyes and stretched with a yawn.

"All done there?" came a female voice.  He opened his eyes to see a waitress standing by the table with a smile.  She had red hair that fell down her back in a long pony tail, and wore the typical tavern server clothes of a long green dress with a yellow apron.  Since she worked here, she was obviously an NPC.  You could hardly tell the difference, though, which was strangely becoming a common thing with other NPCs as well.

Kirito nodded with a small smile.  "Yeah," he said politely, "I'm pretty much done here."

"All right then," the redhead said with another smile.  She grabbed his plate and silverware from the table.  She then mentally counted out the cost for the meal in her head.  "That should be about seven Rul," she told him as she picked up his mug.  The swordsman nodded to this as he pulled out the required amount from his bag slung over his shoulder.  She took the money in her free hand as she said in a cheerful tone, "Have a nice day, sir."

Kirito nodded in thanks as he got up and headed for the door.  He stopped when he heard giggling.  He turned his head slightly and saw a guy and a girl sitting across from each other, flirting with large smiles.  They were both obviously players, and, from the looks of it, they appeared to be a couple.  _Not even two weeks here_ , he thought with a slight frown, _and they are already dating._ _That's kinda pushing it a little bit, isn't it?  I know Kayaba said to live out our new lives here, but this seems a little too soon for something like that._

He shrugged, thinking that it was their life and that it wasn't his business.  They could do whatever they wanted; within all reason that is.  He shook his head and walked out the door into the open street.

The sky had been clear since the rains stopped, and the people were taking full advantage of this.  Each street had at least one small stand where someone was advertising their wares to onlookers.  They had honed their skills while sitting in their homes for two days while waiting for the rain to end.  When it finally did, they had new and better merchandise that they could sell for a good price at the market.

Said market was almost overflowing with stands, sale's wagons, and shoppers.  It was almost impossible to move without bumping into another player or NPC.  The latter had been increasing in numbers, though the numbers of those living in Tolbana were small compared to the City of Beginnings, where the majority of the Kingdom of Milrad's NPC's lived.  Each of the Twenty Realms had thousands NPCs living in them.  In fact, the Rulers of the kingdoms were NPCs themselves.  It seemed to work for them, so the foreigners to the game's lands did not give it much thought.

Kirito did, though.  He found it interesting that the NPCs were becoming more human-like every passing day.  Perhaps it was from one of the upgrades made before the release of RAO, or something done by Akihiko Kayaba when he altered the game to his own design.  Whatever the reason, though, the NPCs had been a huge help over the past week and a half.  When they heard of the players' predicament, they welcomed them into their world with open arms.  It was said that even the Rulers of the Twenty Realms had heard of this, and were currently in the process of making sanctuaries for them to live.  Had it come from any other source, no one would have believed it; but since it was Argo herself who found this out from one of the NPC messengers, they were inclined to trust that it was true.

The sword wielding Beta Tester still had a hard time believing it, though.  The Rulers had more important things to attend to than focusing on just a handful of people, surely.  After all, the players weren't even residents in their lands; well, at least before about two weeks ago when they were trapped here.  It was a little strange with the Rulers' behavior towards the strangers.  Then again, most of the the Rulers were said to be kind and generous to anyone who lived in their domains.  Chief among the Rulers rumored to be supporting the players were said to be Lord Heathcliff of Milrad and King Oberon of Sylphania, the homeland of the Sylphs.  It made sense for Oberon to be concerned for the players', as he was actually rumored to be a player himself.

Despite this, Kirito still had a hard time believing that King Oberon would be willing to give the players sanctuary for free.  From what he remembered from the Beta Test, he was known for his sometimes troublesome plans to help gain a considerable profit.  He was a notorious schemer, though, so it was safe to assume he had some plans for his own benefit in all this.  He was, however, known for his benevolence and generosity for his subjects, so maybe there was no real ulterior motive the Sylph king had.  While he was beloved by his people, he was the least loved of all the Rulers.

Lord Heathcliff, however, was a totally different story.  He loved his subjects without asking for anything in return, and was loved by his people.  While King Oberon preferred to send his soldiers to battle for him and not sully his hands, Lord Heathcliff always was at the front lines, valiantly leading his troops forward to victory.  The guild of the highest elite warriors he led were known as the Knights of the Blood Oath, and were renown for their prowess in battle.  With this in mind, as well as the fact that the players all currently lived in Milrad, it was no surprise to Kirito that Heathcliff was more than willing to welcome the players to his Kingdom.

  _It's more believable that Lord Heathcliff is concerned for our well-being_ , the swordsman thought,  _The only reason King Oberon is interested is because he's only concerned for the Sylph players.  That's all he wants.  Of course, he could have some other scheme in store in that twisted mind of his.  I'd rather trust Heathcliff than that self centered Sylph who only cares for himself, though.  I still don't buy this whole "sanctuary acceptance" thing though, even if it comes from Argo._   He continued to head further into the marketplace.

Tolbana was the largest city in Milrad, second only to the capital, Arcadia, and its marketplace was just as large.  Stretching a mile in length, it was the largest marketplace in the entire Realm.  It made sense since the city of Tolbana was Milrad's trade center.  Each Realm had a trade center, but Tolbana was the largest and most renowned of all.  As a result, blacksmiths, iron workers, tanners, butchers, farmers, and merchants from all over the Twenty Realms came here to sell various wares from their shops, stands, and sales wagons.  Some of the travelers were also here to see the goods, seeing if there was anything that they wanted for either themselves or for their loved ones back home.

Kirito stopped as some children ran by him in a game of tag.  Laughter followed them as they raced through the crowd, earning several warm smiles from onlookers at the youngsters' antics.  A young woman in a blue dress with brown hair and glasses ran after them, yelling for them to slow down. Kirito smiled at this.  It was good to finally see happiness after almost two weeks of terror, glumness, and confusion.  With a warm chuckle, he started to continue on his way.

As he passed an alleyway, he stopped as he heard a call of distress.  He swung towards the alley and growled at what he saw.  Two young girls were cornered by four taller men.  Their backs were turned to him, but he could already tell that they were giving despicable smiles at their prey.  He drew his sword and made his way into the alley, unaware of the large figure that noticed his movements and began to follow.

"Come on now.  Don't be scared," the man closest to the girls said with an obviously fake gentle tone.  "All you have to do is give us everything you've got, and we'll be on our merry way."  He was definitely lying, as the look on his companions' faces clearly showed.  One of the girls had her short sword drawn and was blocking the ruffians from the younger girl who was obviously her sister.  Said girl also had her sword drawn, but looked as if she was about to panic.

"I already told you punks twice now: Back off!"  the older sibling growled, swinging her sword in an attempt to scare the thugs away.  This didn't work, as the leader grabbed her wrist.  He squeezed, and she dropped her sword.

"Now you've done it," he said gravely with a lecherous grin.  "That's gonna cost you even more.  You'll be coming with us back home."   He eyed the prize in his grip and liked his lips in hunger.   He looked at her sister with a smirk.  He looked back to his friends, not yet noticing the angered swordsman.  "What do you guys think?" he asked in a revoltingly playful tone,  "This one's my personal toy.  Who wants the little one?"  His comrades began to laugh with sinister coldness at this as they eagerly eyed the girl.

"The answer is none of you get _any_ of the girls," a dangerous voice said from behind them.  As one, the four spun around to see Kirito with a drawn sword blocking the alleyway, his face darkened by the shadows.  The ruffians could clearly that he was angered by the dark aura around him.

"Oh really?" the leader asked with a dark chuckle, still griping the girl's arm.  "And do you honestly think that you can stand up to all four of us?  Do you even know who we are, kid?"

"Nope," the swordsman said flatly as he brandished his `Anneal Blade` in his right hand, "And, personally, I don't care one bit.  All I know is that you guys need to learn your place."

This clearly angered the thug, as he snarled, "Why you little brat!" drew his jagged blade, and charged towards the young warrior, his toadies right behind him.

The leader was the first to reach him, bringing his sword down with the intent to split Kirito's head open.  The younger fighter just dodged and delivered a kick to the man's shins.  He spun around to catch the blade of another.  With a swift maneuver, he forced the thug to stagger back, then swung and parried another sword originally aimed for his back.  He dodged the fourth's attack and backed up.  By now he had moved to where he stood between the crooks and the two wide eyed girls.

The four began to chuckle in glee.  They had him right where they wanted him.  This kid was good, but his moves were clearly inhibited by the walls on both sides.  "We've got you now, twerp," the leader said in glee.  "We'll gut you open, then take our little playthings back with us.  I'll be sure to remember your dead corpse when I have fun with these girls."  The crooks were too busy chuckling to notice the shadow looming over them from behind.

The two men in the back were suddenly wrenched back with yelps and slammed together.  The crumpled to the ground as they lost conscious.  The other two spun around and saw a large man standing over their knocked out comrades.  He was clearly of African heritage, with a bald head and a dark brown goatee.  He wore black leggings and sleeveless shirt with light breastplate colored grey and brown boots.  A large axe was swung across his back, and his hands were currently on his hips balled into fists.

"Why don't you runts pick on somebody your own size?" he said sternly, a frown visible on his face.  His brown eyes narrowed at the two men still standing before him.

The duo slightly shook in fear.  They had not counted on this _giant_ to come to their foe's aid.  They didn't stand a chance at all now.  There was only one alternative left to them now: leave their friends and-

" **Scram!** " the leader screamed.  They instantly bolted past the man and ran out of the alleyway.  They shoved through the crowd in an attempt to escape the wrath of Kirito running after them.  They were shoved down onto their behinds by someone in front of them. "Watch where you're going, you stupid idio-" the man's snarl died in his throat as he saw the six soldiers standing over them.

"What's going on here?" the captain of the group asked as he glared at the ruffians beneath him.  He was dressed in blue clothes with silver armor, had blue hair with long bangs, a large long sword on his waist, and a kite shield on his back.  Kirito had by this time caught up to them, with the massive man and two girls not far behind.

"These thugs and two others in the alley right there tried to take advantage of these young girls here, sir," the swordsman said as the captain looked at him.  "Me and my friend here knocked out the others before these two tried to get away."

The captain's gaze hardened at this.  He glared at the two cowering below him.  "Take them.  And be sure to get the ones in the alley as well," he said to the men behind him.  The soldiers nodded and grabbed the thugs, who began to futilely try to escape their captors' grip.  The captain turned back to the quartet with a reassuring look.  "Are you all alright?" he asked in concern.

"The girls are fine," the axe wielder replied with a smile, "They're just a little shook up from the ordeal.  As for my sword wielding buddy and me, we seem to be in one piece."

The captain nodded at this, an expression of relief in his eyes.  He looked down to the two young girls with a gentle smile.  "My name is Captain Diavel," he introduced himself with a small salute, "And who might you two young ladies be?"  The girls giggled at the man's charm.

"My name is Aiko Konno," the eldest replied with a nervous smile.  She gestured to her younger sister as she continued, "This is my sister Yuuki.  If it weren't for these two men, we would've been goners for sure."  They both looked at Kirito and blushed slightly.

"Ah, it was nothing, really," the swordsman chuckled lightly,  "I just did what anyone else would've done."  He then looked at the girls curiously as he added, "What do you mean by 'Konno?'  Is it a title or something?"

"I think it's their last name," the large man explained for the young ladies, "While players are stuck with their user names here, they can now add their last names from the real world to their identity.  You didn't know that?"

Kirito chuckled nervously as he admitted while scratching his head, "I actually haven't spent much time in town lately. I've mostly been out grinding my levels up."

Diavel arched an eyebrow at this.  "How far are you, then?" he asked in curiosity.

The swordsman shuffled his foot, taking his time to answer.  Finally, after about a minute, he hesitantly said, "Um....I'm at Lv.19....Almost Lv.20."

Everyone stared at Kirito in shock.  They wondered if they heard right.  Surely this teenager wasn't almost Lv.20 within less than two weeks of living in Realm Art Online.  He had to be joking right?  You had to have incredible skills for that, which this kid certainly did not seem to have.  But, when they looked and saw his uncomfortable expression, they knew he was telling the truth.

"You're actually almost Lv.20?" the man with the axe asked just to clarify.  Kirito only nodded his head to this, not looking up at any of them.  "How'd you even get that high in such a short time?  What are you like a Beta Tester or something?"

The swordsman's head remained down, as he didn't want anyone to know his secret.  Thinking quickly, he said with what he hoped was a convincing voice, "I wandered the forests a lot, so I found a lot of areas where you can fight some pretty good creatures.  I started out by bringing myself up a few levels until I was strong enough to take on the bigger mobs."

The four others just stared at him in question.  They couldn't tell if he really was telling the truth or not.  Out of all of them, only the large man had a real idea as he looked at the sword still in Kirito's hand.

"All right," he said before anyone else had a chance to question him further, "I believe you, kid."  "Now," he turned to the young girls in the group, "where do you two ladies live, exactly.  There may be more of those crooks out there, and I for one don't want to take any chances."

Aiko and Yuuki just looked at each other nervously.  "Well," Aiko hesitated as she answered uneasily, "...We don't exactly have a place right now.  We were passing through the market to find a place to stay when those punks cornered us." 

The others just stared at the two girls in surprise.  Even Kirito's head shot up at this news.  These two didn't even have a place to live?  Where have they even slept for the last week and a half?!

The African sighed and, after a moment's thought, said, "If that's the case, you two can always stay at my place.  I'm sure Kathleen would be more than happy to take you in."  He looked at the captain and added, "That is, if that's all right with you and the girls of course.  My place is not far from here, so I can show you if you have time."

 Diavel gave him a serious look.  Everyone could see that he was thinking about the offer in great detail.  Finally, he gave a steady smile and replied, "I'm fine with that.  Given I come along to see this place of yours."

The other man nodded in agreement.  As they all began to set out for his place, he added after coming to a realization, "I just realized I never introduces myself.  My name's Agil.  Agil Mills.  It's good to meet you all.  What's your name kid?"  The question was toward the young swordsman who had yet to introduce himself.

"My names Kirito," he replied.  After a moment of thought, he added, "Kirito Kirigaya."

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

The five men with captain had left with the four crooks to the small barracks in Tolbana.  Diavel followed the swordsman, giant, and two girls as they made their way through the crowd to their destination.

When they reached Agil's home, they all stopped and stood in shock.  Before them was a house!  There was what looked like an establishment on the first floor.  A sign hung from a pole sticking out from above the door.  It had two dice on it and, ironically, said, "The Dicey Cafe".

"What do ya think," Agil asked with a smile.  The others snapped out of their stupor and looked in awe at the man.

"H-how were you able to afford this?" Kirito stuttered in confusion.  He had been here for close to two weeks and didn't even have enough for a room anymore, while this guy owned a freaking house and cafe!

Agil chuckled at their bewilderment.  "I have a friend who helped develop the game," he explained as he led them inside, "He was the one who was able to arrange for me and my wife Kathleen to purchase two of the hardcovers in advance.  He also gave us a premium starter pack with enough to buy and run this place.  Guess you could say we were lucky."

"So both you and your wife are stuck here in RAO?" Yuuki asked in surprise.  Though not uncommon, she had yet to meet any couples from the real world here together.

"Yep," the large man said.  He then added quietly as if it was more to himself than anyone, "I still think it would have been better if we got one game like we originally agreed to."

"Are you seriously still thinking about that, mister?" a woman said from the doorway.  Kathleen had a warm smile on her face that radiated with gentleness and welcome.  She was of average height in comparison to her husband, who could easily pass for seven feet.  Long black hair fell down to the small of her back in a braid, and she was lightly tanned.  She wore a brown short sleeved tunic with leggings of the same color.  Slim black boots covered her feet, and she had grey arm bracers and shin guards that matched Agil's breastplate.

"We've gone over this a hundred times now," she added coming over and looking up at her husband.  Her stern look would have been enough to make anyone's blood run cold, which greatly contrasted her previous smile.  Agil quickly looked away as he stuttered something that sounded like an apology.  Her stern look melted away instantly as she turned to look at her guests.

"I'm sorry about this," she said with an apologetic smile, "Andr-Agil tends to forget that I chose to come here with him.  Besides, the only thing that has been hard for me is trying to remember to call him by his username now since it's his new first name."  She looked at the girls with a gentle smile as she greeted them, "My name's Kathleen.  Who might you two be?"  They nervously introduced themselves to the kind woman, who asked in curiosity, "You two wouldn't happen to be twins, would you?  You both look so alike that if it weren't for your hair and outfits, I wouldn't be able to tell you both apart."

Kirito had to agree with that.  Now that he got a good look at them, he too would have mistaken them for twins if not for some small differences.  Aiko was a few inches taller than her sister, almost his height.  The purplish black hair they both shared only reached her shoulders, and she had vibrant violet eyes.  Her skin was a milky white, hinting that she never went outside much.  She wore a blue outfit consisting of leggings and a sleeveless tunic with light black leather breastplate and boots.

Yuuki's hair reached down to her waist, and she had brilliant red eyes that avoided everyone's gaze.  Her skin was much paler than her sister's, almost sickly if one didn't know better.  She wore an identical outfit that was purple with a matching set of boots and leather breastplate.  Her shorter size and skin color gave her a fragile appearance.  Her hands were behind her back, and she shuffled her foot.  One feature they both shared were their pointed ears, showing that they were Sylphs.

Aiko scratched behind said ear as she replied, "I'm actually one year older than Yuuki.  We thought it would be fun to play RAO together, since we hadn't done something like that in a few years.  I guess you could say we wanted time away as just the two of us."  She chuckled as she added sheepishly, "Guess we got what we asked for."

"Must have," Kathleen said with a reassuring smile,  "Do you two have a place close to here?  From the looks of it, you both seem to be totally new to this kind of gameplay."

It was Agil who answered this question.  "Actually, that's why they're here," he said as he stood next to his wife, "I thought that they could stay here in one of the spare rooms we have.  If it's alright with you, anyway, Kath."

The woman looked at her husband with a curious look, then back to the hopeful faces of the girls before them.  She nodded with a look of encouragement.  "Of course they can stay.  We can't have such young and inexperienced children living in the streets now can we?"

"Thank you!" both girls exclaimed simultaneously as they hugged the older woman in relief.  Kathleen just chuckled as she hugged them back.

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It was well into the night by the time Diavel had said goodbye and took his leave.  He still had to deal with the crooks back at the barracks, after all.  He shook hands with Agil and Kirito before he walked through the door to the illuminated streets outside.

Kirito was currently sitting at the bar counter with the Mills, drinking what almost tasted like hot cocoa from the mug in his hands.  The married couple had mugs of their own that they drank from.  The girls had gone to bed two hours earlier.  With all the excitement from today, no one could blame them.

They had settled nicely into their room with one bed.  Since they shared one room back in the real world, this didn't bother them in the slightest.  They had fallen asleep the moment they had the covers over them, tired smiles on their faces.  It was almost cute seeing them together like that.  They truly looked like twins the way they slept with their hair spread out on the fluffy pillows their heads rested on.

 "So," Agil said absently, "What are you going to do now, Kirito?"

The Beta Tester shrugged as he replied, "Well for starters I need to leave soon so that I can find a cheap inn."

"Why cheap?" Kathleen asked curiously, "Don't you already have a place to sleep by now?  You must have some skills that can get you money with how you were able to handle those thugs earlier."

"Well...," Kirito said sheepishly, trying to think of an appropriate answer.  The reason he was low on Rul was actually embarrassing.

"You used up most if not all your money on finishing your swords upgrades, didn't you?" Agil stated more than asked knowingly.  The young man stared at him in surprise at hearing his guess.  "Remember how you let me look at your sword earlier?" the cafe's owner asked.  Kirito nodded.  "Even though my levels aren't as high as I'd like yet, I can tell that you have an `Anneal Blade +6` from my appraising skill.  That sword and its upgrades aren't exactly cheap right now for starter players."

"You used up all your money on a sword?" Kathleen asked disappointingly, "You are absolutely hopeless, kid."

The couple looked at each other and nodded their heads in an unspoken agreement.  "That settles it," Agil said, "You're staying here whether you like it or not." He raised a hand to stop Kirito from interrupting.  "No way you're getting outta this, kid," he said sternly, "You're just gonna have to suck it up and deal with it."

"I can't stay for free, though!" the teen protested desperately.  The spouses chuckled warmly at this.

"How about this," Kathleen asked while thinking, "You can pay us one percent of your earnings when you're grinding in the forests.  You can also help out around the place when you're not out there as well.  That should be more than sufficient."  "We have more rooms than we can use anyway," she added with a shrug and smile, "What do you say?"

Kirito thought about the offer for a few minutes.  The offer seemed reasonable enough.  He would get a room and food for only ten percent of his findings, which he could easily afford.  In addition, he would have something else to do when not grinding by working around the cafe.  It was the perfect agreement, in his opinion.

He looked at the couple with a grateful smile.  "All right," he finally said, "You got yourself a deal."  The Mills smiled in relief.  They had been worried that he would have put up an argument to get out of it.

"Good," Kathleen said as she stood up. "I'll get that mug if you're finished with it," she added as she grabbed all the mugs together and made her way into the kitchen.  "I'll also get your room ready while I'm at it," she called out after she passed through the doorway into the next room.

As soon as she left, Agil looked at Kirito with a measuring look.  "So how did you find that sword?" he asked.  Seeing the swordsman's surprise and shock, he explained, "The `Anneal Blade` is a quest item.  So far you're the only one I've met that has it.  And I've met a lot of folks around here.  So where did you get it and how did you know how it was there?"

After a moment of trying to find an excuse, Kirito sighed in defeat.  "It can be found in a quest not far from the City of Beginnings.  The reason I knew where it was is because..." he trailed off, not wanting to admit his secret.

"You're a Beta Tester," Agil finished with a knowing look, "I thought as much.  It's the only reason you can be almost at Lv.20 in such a short amount of time here."  "Although," he added thoughtfully, "The few Beta Testers I've met haven't even made it to that level yet.  You must've been really good in the Beta to have that kind of progress."

He looked at Kirito's distressed face and added reassuringly, "Don't worry.  I'm not gonna tell anyone.  Not even Kath will know of this.  That's why I asked you now while she's cleaning the dishes."  He gave a small smile and continued, "To be honest, I don't really have a reason to tell anyone else about it.  So don't sweat.  Your secret's safe with me, Kirito."

The swordsman sighed in relief.  "Thanks, Agil," he said with an exhale in relief.  "You don't know how reassuring hearing that is.  How were you able to tell what the sword was if you haven't seen it before, though?"

"That friend I mentioned earlier also gave us a cheat guide with the premium pack," was the reply, "I mostly read about the quest weapon rewards, but we both weren't able to get a good look through it before the game release.  Can't really look back to it now that it's back in the real world.  That sword was one of the few weapons I remember seeing in the guide, though."

Kirito nodded.  "You guys were really lucky to have a friend like that," he said, "He made sure that you had all the things you needed."  "At least," he added after a thought, "that was before the game became a virtual world that trapped us here."

A nod came with the reply to this.  "Yeah," the large man replied, "I doubt even he knew what Kayaba had in mind.  And he was higher up on the ladder than most."

The two sat there in silence for a while.  Both were brooding over what the other had said and what had transpired earlier.  They would've hated to have not known that the girls were in trouble and just walked by.

"So," Agil said, breaking the silence, "Thanks for standing up for those girls.  That took lots of guts to take on those four."

Kirito shook his head as he answered, "Nah. It's not that big a deal.  I should be thanking _you_ for showing up when you did.  I was at a serious disadvantage in that alley, since my movements were limited in there."

The African chuckled at this.  "You're lucky I saw you go into that alleyway with your sword drawn when I did.  Otherwise I wouldn't have known and come to help.  The real luck we had, though, was that Capt. Diavel was nearby.  Those two would have got away if he hadn't been."  The Beta Tester nodded in agreement to this.  They had indeed been lucky that Diavel was in the vicinity.  Who knows what trouble those two would have caused if he hadn't.

Just then, Kathleen came in with some sheets in her arms.  "Kirito," she said warmly, "Why don't you help me get your room set up for tonight?  I could use the extra set of hands."

"Sure thing, Mrs. Mills," the teen replied as he stood up.

"Just call us by our first names, please," she said with an uneasy face, "Mr. and Mrs. makes us sound like we're old.  We're both not even thirty yet."

"Sure thing," Kirito said with a small laugh.  He followed Kathleen through the doorway and up the stairs to the left.  His room was right across from Aiko and Yuuki's in case they needed anything.  It was a simple room, consisting only of a clothes drawer and mirror, a wooden desk and chair, a medium sized bed, and a brown chest.  Though not too fancy, it was perfect for someone with the young man's preferences.  Once they had moved things to his liking, Kathleen left after saying good night.

Kirito sighed as he laid his bed with a smile.  He was grateful that he had been offered a room in this nice place.  As he closed his eyes to sleep, he looked forward to the time he would spend here and what fate held in store for him in the future yet to come.  Little did he know what laid before him for years to come.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stop the presses, people! We've got ourselves our first bookmark here! My little story has come a long way in just a short time being published. I'd just like to give a shout out to Alozano14 for liking my story. If you ever want to let me know what you think of so far or even if you have an idea or two, just leave them in the comments. That goes for the rest of you faithful viewer as well. and now, on with the show!
> 
> P.S. A fair warning to you all. This is going to be a long chapter. Please keep in mind that not every one will be this long, though. I just had so much I wanted to put in without having to break it into two chapters the length of chapter three.

** Three weeks later **

It had been nearly a month since Realm Art Online became the home to the 20,000 players trapped here.  Even though 2,000 players had died so far, things had started looking up for the newcomers to the game's world.  Thanks to the efforts of the fellow player Captian Diavel, the clearers had managed to finally reach the mountians labyrinth on the 1st Floor of Aincrad.  So far, though, no one had been able to locate the boss.  Until the Floor's boss was defeated, the players could only explore the current Floor.  This ultimately led to almost every clearer to be doing their part in locating the Boss' Room so that they could finally move on.  Of course, the players were making sure not to rush anything, as they had lives outside of Aincrad as well.

Things had finally started to seem normal to everyone living at the Dicey Cafe.  The Konno sisters had settled in nicely, helping around the place and even serving as waitresses every once in a while.  They both had changed from the nervous young preteens that jumped at nearly every shadow to confident young women.  Even Yuuki had started coming out of her shell, even managing to talk to Kirito without blushing and ducking away in shyness.  She even started to look a little healthier, though still not very much.  It had shocked them all to learn that they were only twelve and thirteen years old.  They had both undergone a lot of hardships, but had risen up to become so much more than they had been three weeks prior.

Kirito himself had settled into life with the Mills as well.  He now either spent his time out in the forests grinding his levels up, helping around the cafe, or practicing with the Aiko and Yuuki.  He had offered to give them sparing lessons the day after they all moved in; it was an offer they enthusiastically accepted.  He was impressed with the progress they had made so far, and had told them that he would take them into the woods to start working on their levels next week.  This greatly excited the two girls, who had promptly crushed him in a double hug.  They were both so grateful that they had the older teenager for their teacher in the ways of the sword. 

The swordsman was currently watching the two Sylphs sparing with each other.  He was more than pleased with the results of his training, and was confident that if they ever got in another situation like before, they would be able to defend themselves.  Out of the two, Yuuki had surprisingly made the most progress.  Her moves were amazing despite her  health issues that she still had not shared with anyone other than her sister. Kirito had bought her a thin long sword in a black sheath with some of the money he had gained, and a two-handed broadsword in a matching for Aiko.  The two female fairies had quickly become experts at using them, and had proceeded to start trying at making some new combos of their own.

So far, no one else had been able to discover the Beta Tester's secret, and he intended to keep it that way.  True to his word, Agil never spoke of the matter since the night he had confronted the young man about it.  Kirito was grateful for this, and did his best to return the favor in any way he could.  He did his best to help around the kitchen, but, since his cooking skills left much to be desired, he mostly washed the dishes and got the ingredients for Kathleen and the girls.  The two sisters were almost as good in the kitchen as they were with a sword, and that said a lot.  They were capable of making a delicious soup while Kirito couldn't even cook water without setting the stone top stove on fire, much to the swordsman's dismay.

His attention snapped back to the present as he heard a loud clash in front of him.  He looked up and saw that the two Konnos had locked swords together, and were currently trying to overcome the girl opposite of each other.  As one, they separated their blades and jumped back to better their stances.  He smirked when he saw a familiar shift in Yuuki's balance.  He had seen this several times before, and knew exactly what would happen next.  True to his memory, as Aiko charged with her sword at the ready, Yuuki did a somersault over her sister.  Landing on her feet, she put the point of her blade at the back of the older girl's neck, winning the match.

 "Checkmate, sis," the younger sibling stated with surety.  She sheathed her sword and walked toward Kirito with her sister doing the same. "How was that?" she asked with a beaming smile.  She was quite proud of her skills, especially when she won a fight.

Kirito chuckled at her enthusiasm.  "That was good," he said while going over the fight in his mind, "I saw very few if no mistakes from both of you today."  He looked at the younger sister as he added, "Good job with perfecting that move, Yuuki.  No matter what Aiko tries, you just have to pull that move up, and you win."

"Please," Aiko rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, "Anyone can fall for that move.  I'd like to see you try to beat her instead of you letting her win all the time.  Why don't you try to not take it easy for once."

The swordsman narrowed his eyes at this.  "You think I shouldn't go easy on both of you from now on?" he asked seriously.  They both nodded in affirmation.  He sighed.  "Alright," he relented, "Get back out there and I'll take you both on."  The girls looked at him in excitement.  He never fought both of them together before, let alone fight with his all.

"I'm not going to use all my strength," he warned as he walked out to the area of dirt behind the Mill's house, "If I did, you wouldn't stand a chance in the slightest, even with the training you've had."  He drew his sword as he continued with a cocky smile, "Of course, I'm not gonna be a softy on you both either."  He spread his legs out with his sword held in both hands in front of him.

The Sylph sisters nodded, drawing their swords and readying their stances.  The three of them stood there for a full minute, waiting for the other to strike.  The two girls looked at each other, silently communicating with each other on how best to double team on him.  Kirito smiled at this.  The fact that they communicate with each other like this was an excellent result of their training.  As one, they shot out to either side of him, thinking that he couldn't handle two attacks from different directions.

They both swung at the same time, but were shocked to see the older teen twist his hips and sidestep away and moved his sword to lock with theirs.  Still moving in a circle, he swung his `Anneal Blade` up, breaking the lock as he jumped back in one fluid motion.  A triumphant smile crossed his face when he saw their bewildered expressions.  They had not realized how quick it really was, and that was the thing that would lead to their defeat.  He moved forward with a burst of speed and rammed the hilt of his sword in Aiko's gut, knocking the wind out of her and taking her out of the fight.  He turned just in time to bring his up to lock blades with Yuuki, who had taken the opportunity to strike while he was distracted; or at least that was the plan.

They both pushed at the other, trying to gain the heeded momentum to break to lock and deal the finishing blow.  However, it was clear that Kirito was the stronger of the two, and the young man started to push the Sylph back.  Seeing this, Yuuki promptly broke the lock and cartwheeled away. She landed a few feet away, scowling at her lack of success at landing any blows yet.  Kirito just stared back, waiting for the move he was certain would be coming.  Sure enough, he saw the the familiar shift in her stance.  She charged and somersaulted over his head like he expected.  She landed on her feet and prepared to end this fight with a strike, but was shocked to see that her sword had been knocked out of her hand, and a blade pressed up to her throat.

 She had been so confident in her victory that she had failed to notice that Kirito had had spung around to face where she had landed.  He then swung his sword up, knocking it out of her hands and sending it flinging away.  He then took advantage of this moment to swiftly bring his sword up to her neck.  A look of satisfaction was on his face as he backed up.

"Seems like I still got it," he said absently as he sheathed his sword.  He looked at Yuuki as he noted, "That move is good, but you always shift your legs in the same stance, making it easy to predict what you'll do next."The young girl was to flabbergasted at how he had utterly beat her to speak.

The sound of light applause came to his ear, leading him to where Agil and Kathleen were clapping with entertained smiles.  Aiko was next to them, having moved over to them while still trying to recover her breath from the blow dealt by the swordsman.  He had been so focused on his sparring match that he hadn't noticed them watching.

"That was amazing!" Kathleen exclaimed as they made their way over to the two young teens. "Agil told me you were good, but he never said you were that good," she added with a pointed look at her husband, who was doing his best to avoid making eye contact with her.  Kirito still found it hard to believe that they had been married in the real world as well, since Agil seemed to always find a way to get lectured by his wife.

"Well," the African said while scratching his head nervously, "I myself never really got to see him like that either, to be honest.  The only time I've seen him fight close to that was in the alleyway three weeks ago.  And that was in a closed in space that hindered his mobility."  He looked at Kirito in admiration as he added, "Though from what I just saw, I'd say that you my friend could all well be one of the best fighters in Milrad; and that's putting it humbly."

The swordsman just looked at his feet in embarrassment.  "I guess you could say that...," he mumbled under his breath.  He still hadn't told Agil what level he had been in the Beta, so the older man really had no clue just how skilled the teenager really was.  And then there was also the fact that almost no one aside from the Beta Testers knew his accomplishments.  Truthfully, he never hoped anyone would.  If they did, it would cause him some serious problems.

Yuuki finally came over after having snapped out of her stupor and began chatting with her sister and the Mills.  They had all been impressed by the display they had just witnessed, and decided to celebrate the Konno sisters' progress and near graduation of Kirito's training.  They made their way inside, leaving only Agil and Kirito still outside.

"So just how skilled are you exactly?" the dark skinned man asked.  He had often wondered on the the subject, but had never found the right time to ask.  This was a rare time when they didn't have Kathleen or the girls nearby to overhear them.

Kirito sighed.  He knew Agil would ask him that sooner or later.  He still wanted to keep his abilities a secret, so he replied, "I'm pretty good."  His friend chuckled at this answer, knowing that it would be all he would get from the sword wielder.

"If what I just saw there wasn't you best," Agil said in a sage-like tone, "I can only imagine what "pretty good" actually looks like in comparison."  Hearing laughter from inside, he decided to enter the house, his young friend not far behind.

They found the three female player in the kitchen, flinging what Kirito knew to be a sort of icing at each other.  It was at times like this where Kathleen showed her playful side, almost acting like a child.  They were all laughing as they tried to hit their targets while avoiding getting hit themselves.  This brought a smile to the swordsman as he watched the spectacle in front of him.  It was at times like this where he felt like they were all just one big family; and, in a way, they were.  The men laughed with the girls, with Agil promptly joining in the fun.

They were making so much noise that they didn't even hear the shop's bell ring.  "Well," a familiar voice chuckled from the kitchen doorway, "It looks like someone's having a lot of fun."  They all looked to see Diavel leaning on the door frame with an amused expression.  The captain had visited the Dicey Cafe several times since he met Kirito, the Mills, and the Konno sisters.  He had even occasionally sparred with the two Sylphs to see their progress.

"Diavel!" Agil exclaimed as he grabbed a cloth to clean himself of the icing that covered his face, "Haven't seen you here in a week.  How have you been?"

"I've been well, Agil.  Thank you for asking," the blue haired player replied with a smile.  His expression turned serious as he continued, "I actually came here to talk to you and Kirito.  We're having a meeting in fifteen minutes for every clearer in Tolbana.  I would like it if you both came to attend."

"A meeting with all of Tolbana's clearers?" Kirito asked as he and Agil looked at each other.  Whatever the assembly was about, it must have been big to require for every clearer in the city to attend.  After a moment of silent communication, they both nodded.  "All right," the teenage swordsman said as he turned back to the waiting captain, "We'll go to this meeting."

"Excellent!" Diavel said as he turned out the door.  "I'll wait for you both outside the cafe," he added before he exited the building.

Kathleen walked over to the two men.  "What do you think this is all about?" she asked them in confusion, "Do you think the Boss has been found, or could it be something else entirely?"

Agil merely shrugged at this.  "It really could be anything," he said as he went to get his axe from their bedroom, "All we know is that it's gotta be big."

Aiko and Yuuki's eyes glowed at this.  "Can we come too?  Please?" Yuuki asked hopefully to Kirito.  If it was going to be important, they wanted in on the action too.

The Beta Tester looked uneasy at her request.  As much as he hated to dissapoint them, he had to make the right decision.  "I'm sorry girls," he said in regret to their hopeful faces.  Disappointment and sorrow entered their eyes as they looked down at the ground.  This hurt Kirito the most, but he knew that he was correct when he added, "You both aren't even close to the levels you need to be for something like this.  Diavel would probably agree with this as well.  Just stay with Kathleen for now.  We'll be back soon, okay?"

Though the girls were crestfallen at this, they knew he was right.  If they did go, they would not only be a liability to themselves, but to everyone else as well.  For now, they would just have to wait.  The time when they could join would come soon.  They just had to be patient.

Kirito looked at Kathleen.  "Watch after them while we're gone, okay?" he asked, already knowing what her answer would be.  Though she herself could put up quite the fight, she needed to stay behind to tend the cafe and look after the Sylphs.

"Of course," she said warmly with a nod, "They'll be in good hands.  Just make sure that Agil comes back in one piece, alright?"

"Since when do I need babysitting?" Agil asked with a frown from the doorway.  His large battleaxe was slung over his back, and he had bracers, shoulder pads, and shin guards that matched his breastplate.  "I can take care of myself just fine," he huffed in complaint.

"I know that," his wife said in a matter of fact tone, "You just happen to have the annoying habit of getting yourself in jams that you need help out of."  She added softly as she kissed him on the cheek, "Be safe, okay?"

Agil smiled warmly at her.  "I've got Kirito with me, so that shouldn't be a problem," he replied pointedly.  Readjusting his bracers, he made his way the cafe entrance.

"I'll make sure he comes back home safely," Kirito reassured the girls as he followed.  He had gained so much over the last three weeks.  They had a peaceful life here, and he was determined to make sure that it would stay that way.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The clearers had all gathered at the outside theater in the heart of Tolbana.  About twenty players total had been called to attend, and not a single one had decided to miss this meeting.  A few other players who weren't clearers had heard of the meeting and decided to attend as well, like Agil and Kirito.  No one minded, as they would probably need every little bit of help they could get.

Agil had gone off to sit with a few of his friends he had made while in Tolbana.  Since he wasn't one for social gatherings like this one, Kirito had opted to sit in the back where no one else had wanted to sit.  This suited the swordsman just fine, as he both got a clear view of the stage from where he sat, and didn't have to worry about having someone block his view.  Everyone went silent as the Captain of Tolbana's forces walked onto the stage.

"Okay, people," the blue haired soldier began, "Now that we're all here, let's get this meeting started."  He gestured to himself as he continued, "So anyway, I want to thank you all for coming.  I really appreciate it.  My name is Diavel, and in this world, the job I rolled in is the Captain of the Guard of this fair city."  This got a several chuckles out of the players present, with one even saying that there was no job system in the game.

"You guys wanna hear this or not?" Diavel asked with a serious look.  At this, everyone shut up to let him speak.  "Right.  Anyway here's the deal," he continued gravely, "Our party found the Boss Room at the top of the tower today."  The tower in question led up through each Floor inside Aincrad, going all the way to the top.  Everyone started at this revelation.  The Boss had finally been found!  This meeting must then have been for the planning of how to beat it.

"First, we need to defeat the Boss and make it to Floor 2," the soldier continued in seriousness, "The next step is we need to tell everyone waiting in both the City of Beginnings and Tolbana that it _is_ possible to beat that flying city!  Fact is, it's our duty as the most capable players here."  He looked around at all the faces in the stands as he asked, "Do you agree, or not?"

As one, the warriors began to clap and whistle in agreement with the captain's plans.  This got a smile out of Kirito.  Coming together like this is how they would and will beat Aincrad and survive in this world.

"Okay," Diavel said in acknowledgement, "Glad to hear you're all with me on this."  He then continued, "Now, let's figure how how we're gonna beat the Boss.  First off, We'll team up into parties of six."  Kirito started at this.  "A typical party doesn't stand a chance against a Floor Boss.  We need a raid group made up of multiple parties.  I myself will be working with my squad that I am in command of here.  They have been given special permission by Lord Heathcliff himself to aid us in this endeavor."

Kirito didn't hear that last part, as he was too busy realizing that everyone else had already formed into their groups.  Though he was uncomfortable with the idea, he knew that the captain was right; it was a necessary thing to form into a group.  He looked around frantically, trying to find any group less than six.  He noticed a long figure to his left.  The person was wearing a brown cloak with the hood up, so he couldn't tell the age or gender of them.  They were here, though, and they also did not have a party.

The swordsman slid over till he was next to the figure.  "You got left out too, huh?" he asked, trying to find the best way to ask the player to team up with him.

"Not even," the figure said, surprising Kirito.  The voice was feminine, revealing that the cloaked person next to him was a girl.  "I wasn't left out.  It's just that everyone seems that their already friends."  The young man understood where she was coming from.  Even Agil had teamed up with his friends to form a party for this trip.

"So you're solo too," Kirito noted in an interested tone.  It was now or never.  "Do you wanna form a party with me?" he asked, hoping he wasn't too forceful in asking.  She tilted her head in his direction, making sure to hide her face in the shadows of her hood.  "You heard what Diavel said," he explained, seeing as she was showing interest, "We can't beat the Boss on our own.  And it would only be for this fight."

The girl seemed to stare at him for a moment before nodding.  Kirito opened his menu and selected his Friends List.  He tapped on the icon to form a party, and sent the player next to him an invitation.  She promptly tapped the accepted button, and her name and health appeared next to her head.  Her named read "Asuna", intriguing the sword wielder's interest just a little.

"All right," Diavel called out, bringing everyone's attention back to the captain, "Looks like everyone's teamed up."  "Now then-"

"Hold on a second!" a voice interrupted.  A young man jumped onto the platform and turned to the audience.  He had a short but solid build with brown eyes.  His light brown hair had a spiky appearance, resembling a cactus, and a small brown goatee decorated his chin.  He wore scale mail with an almost too large one-handed sword sheathed on his back.

"My name's Kibaou.  Got that?" he called out in an irritated tone, "Before we take on the Boss I wanna get something off my chest."  Everyone learned in, interested in what the rude man had to say.  The only one not leaning in was Asuna, but she was most likely interested, as no one could see her face with her hood up.  Diavel had his hands on his hips with a stern face, but was willing to let the player say his piece.

"We all know about the 2,000 people who died so far, yeah?" Kibaou asked, looking out at the audience.  He pointed his finger accusingly as he added, "Well some of you need to apologize to them right now!"  Everyone started at this, not understanding what the cactus-haired player was getting at.  Even Diavel looked confused at this outburst, before a serious look came onto his face.

"Kibaou," he said, bringing everyone's attention back to him, "I think I know who you're referring to.  You mean the ones who are ex-Beta Tester, right?"  Everyone sat up at this, waiting to hear what would be said next.

"Of course I mean them!" Kibaou practically yelled in confirmation to this, "The day this stupid-headed game started the Beta guys just up and vanished, right?  They ditched all us beginners!"  His anger only rose as he continued ranting, "They snagged all the good hunting spots and they grabbed all the easy quests, too!  They were the only ones getting stronger in here.  This whole time they've ignored us like we're nothing."

With a growl, he looked at the faces in the crowd before him and snarled, "Hell, I bet there's some of em here!  Come on out Beta Testers!"  He started to point widely at the twenty players in the stands. "We should make them apologize to us," he went on in rage, "And we should make them give up all their money and the items they got!"

"They can't expect the party to trust them when they don't trust us," he reasoned to the people with his arms crossed over his chest. "Why should we?" he added stubbornly.

By the time Kibaou had finished his statement, Kirito was already incredibly nervous.  As far as he knew, he was the only Beta Tester in this entire crowd.  If he stood up and announced himself, he would be forced to give up all he had and be shunned.  If he didn't, though, there would be no telling when he would be found out, and how much worse it would be from then.

"Can I say something," a voice asked.  Kirito looked and saw that it was Agil who spoke up.  He stood up and walked up in front of Kibaou.  Though he was smaller, the cactus-haired brunette stood as firm as he could.

"Hey," the African said with a frown, "My name's Agil.  Kibaou right?  I wanna make sure I'm on the same page.  You say the ex-Beta Testers should be blamed for the rookies' deaths because they didn't help them.  And you want them to apologize and give up their winnings.  I leave anything out?"

"No," Kibaou replied with a scowl, his hands balled into fist and pressed into his hips, "You didn't."

In response, Agil reached into his bag and pulled out a small handbook.  "The items store hands these out for free," he explained, "It's a guidebook.  You got one didn't you?"

"Sure I got one," the shorter player replied, not understanding where the axe wielder was going with this, "So what about it?"  He didn't understand what was so important about this book that he had to be shown it.

"You know who was handing these out?" Agil asked.  He then proceeded to answer his own question by replying, "The ex-Beta Testers."  Everyone started at this, having not known this little fact.  Minus Kirito, anyway.  He had actually been the one to tell Agil this information.  He knew that it had been Argo who wrote the guidebook for rookie players on everything she knew so far about the game that would help them.  While she did prefer to be paid for information, she had decided that it would be in everyone's best interest and safety to give them out for free.  After all, Argo was many things, but a heartless witch was not among them.

"Listen up," Agil said to the crowd while gesturing to the guidebook in his hand, "Everyone had equal access to this information. Granted, it's a little outdated due to most of it being from before in the Beta.  However, it is the most accurate guide we have on how to survive here and in Aincrad.  Even so, lots of players still died.  We can't go blaming the ex-Beta Testers for that.  They gave us the best advice they could to survive and live here in RAO."

He added with a pointed look, "I myself personally know one or two ex-Beta Testers, and they are the most selfless people I've ever met.  No matter what, they strive to defend those who can't, even at the risk of their own safety.  I would trust them with my own life, and would go to Hell and back with them no matter the danger."  Kirito gave a hidden smile, knowing who the African was referring to.  It actually comforted him that he at least had one person to defend him and the other Beta Testers.  Everyone else looked at Agil in both admiration and surprise at this statement.

"Now I didn't come here to point fingers at anyone," Kirito's friend said in conclusion, "I came here cause I wanna learn from those players' deaths.  I'm here cause I wanna find out how we're gonna beat the Boss."  He gave Kibaou a final look, who only glared back before finally leaving the stage and sitting in the stands.  With the matter settled, Agil returned to his place with his party.

"Okay," Diavel said as he pulled out his own guidebook, "Can we get back to the meeting now?"  Everyone nodded to this question.  Satisfied, the blue haired captain began briefing them on the mission at hand.  "For info on the Boss," he lifted his copy of the guidebook, "it's all in here.  The latest issue of the guidebook you just heard about."  Everyone except for Agil and Kirito started at this.  Even Kibaou showed shock at the revelation.

Diavel continued as he read the Boss entry in the guidebook, "According to the book the Boss' name is <Illfang the Kobold Lord>.  Also, he'll be surrounded by his minions, The Ruin Kobold Sentinels.  Illfang carries an axe and a buckler.  He has four health bars, and when the last one turns red, he switches to a curved sword type weapon called a talwar.  He can change his patterns of attack too."  Everyone muttered among themselves at this information.  This would be a lot harder than any of them had thought.

"That's it for the briefing," Diavel said, closing the book in his hand, "As for the distribution of loot, money will be divided equally among everyone.  The party that defeats the Boss gets the XP.  And whoever gets an item gets to keep it.  Any objections?"  No one answered, as the division of rewards seemed reasonable and fair.  "Good," the Captain of the Guard said with a nod, "We leave tomorrow at ten in the morning.  Meeting adjured people!"

At this, everyone got up and got up and began to speak with each other.  Kibaou was currently apologizing to Diavel for his outburst, which the soldier forgave with a smile.  Agil began to head home.  He and Kirito had already discussed what they would do after the meeting.  Kirito said that even though the thought of spending one last night at home was tempting, he would rather find an inn nearby to get what little rest he needed.  Agil had finally accepted this with reluctance, but said that he would be going home for the night.  The young teen understood this, and had left to go to his spot before the meeting had begun.

As Kirito watched his friend leave now, he noticed had gotten up and was leaving the theater.  He still wondered about the mysterious girl he had teamed up with, but decided that he should focus on the task of finding an inn.  He himself then got up and proceeded to leave the theater, unaware of Diavel watching.

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That night, the courtyard in the center of Tolbana was filled with most of the players who would be heading out the next morning.  Several had cups wine and mugs of mead, which they clashed together in cheers.  Most of them were chatting on what they would be doing with the winnings they would earn.  Others spoke of their past accomplishments in Realm Art Online, or told of their past lives in the real world.

Kirito walked over the cobblestone, looking for a place where he could eat his dinner without being interrupted.  He had bought some bread with the money he had brought with him, as he had already eaten the food Kathleen packed him for lunch.  His eyes caught sight of Asuna, who was sitting alone outside the courtyard.  She was glumly eating her own bread in a glum demeanor.

"Those are pretty good, aren't they?" he asked as he stood by the brick wall surrounding a small garden of flowering bushes.  She turned and looked at him upon hearing his voice.  "Mind if I sit down?" he asked politely.  When she looked back at her food and didn't reply, Kirito took this as a no and sat down.  She moved over to the left, giving herself some distance.  Unmoved by this, the swordsman proceeded to eat his food.

"You really think these taste good?" the cloaked girl asked in curiosity.  She didn't know whether this man had no sense of taste whatsoever, or was crazy.  The bread that the NPCs had sold nearby was stale and bland.

"Uh huh," Kirito nodded as he replied with his mouth full, "Since I came to this town I end up eating at least one a day.  That's usually when I'm not at home and and out grinding my level up."  He made sure to never let Kathleen see him do this, as she would get very cross; and that is something that no one wanted to do under any circumstances.  "Course," he added as he reached into his bag, "I got a trick that makes it taste better."  This caught Asuna's attention.

"What trick?" she asked, interested on how one could make a bland and stale hunk of bread taste better.  She certainly never heard of such a way.

The swordsman pulled out a small jar and placed it between them.  "Try it with some of that," he said as he took off the lid and placed it to the side of the jar.  Hesitantly, Asuna put her finger in the jar and scooped out something she never thought she'd see.

"Cream," she said in amazement.  She had no idea where he got it from, as he seemed to not be able to afford such a rare item in this season.  At least, that's what she thought from his appearance and clothing.  He had not changed his outfit much since almost a month ago, aside from switching to black pants and finger-less gloves with a grey vest-like breastplate.  All in all, he looked like he could only afford a room in a cheap inn at the most.

 Kirito paid no attention to her stare as he spread some cream on his bread and took a bite.  Asuna slowly spread her cream on, then stared at the pastry in her hands.  After a second, she slowly took a bite.  The sword wielder next to her watched to see her reaction.  In a flash, the girl had eaten her bread and licked her fingers of excess cream.  She sighed in content  before placing her hands in her lap.

"I got it from _The Heifer Strikes Back_," the young man next to her explained, "That's the quest in the village before you get to this city.  You want to know how I did it?"  Looking at how she had eaten the cream covered bread, he was more than willing to share how to get the sweet topping.

He was surprised to see the hooded girl shake her head.  "I appreciate the offer," she said in acknowledgement before adding, "but I didn't come to this city to eat good food."

"Okay," Kirito replied in respect to her wishes.  He then asked her in curiosity, "Why are you here?"  Though Tolbana was a good place, it was not entirely the most ideal place to live.  As it was in the beginning of Autumn, the activity in the marketplace had slowed to a crawl.  The foreigners from different Realms had returned to their homes when the leaves had first started to change color.  As such, no one really came to Tolbana anymore as there was nothing else there aside from the odd quest or two.

After sitting for a minute, Asuna quietly replied, "So I don't lose sight of who I am.  I don't want to lock myself in a room in the City of Beginnings and slowly rot away.  I'd rather stay the way I am until my last moment."  Kirito silently listened to her, finally beginning to understand the girl next to him, even if it was only just a little.  "Even if a monster beats me and I die," she said while grasping her hands together tightly, "I won't lose.  To this game or this world.  No matter what."

Kirito looked at the last piece of cream covered bread in his hand before eating, thinking of what his partner just told him.  He understood what she meant and felt.  He himself had felt that before he moved in with the Mills and the Konno sisters.  Now, tough...

"I wouldn't want my party member dying on me," he said, carefully choosing what words to say next, "...So try not to die tomorrow."

The two sat in silence, each thinking of what they had learned of the other.  They sat this way until they decided to return to their respective inns.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The following day found the clearers walking through the Forest Field, a forest not far from their destination.  The sound of birds chirping could be heard everywhere.  This would be the last moment of peace the group would have before they entered the Labyrinth.  Said Labyrinth was a series of tunnels and paths within the Tower.  Each Floor had one, and each was different.  This was where the most dangerous mobs on the Floor lived, as well as the hidden Boss.  Diavel and his squad led the way, while Kirito and Asuna brought up the rear.

"Okay, let's go over it again," Kirito said to the girl next to him.  He wanted to make sure that she fully knew the plan so as to not get herself killed.  "We're the backup, our target's gonna be the Boss' minions, The Ruin Kobold Sentinels."

"I know," Asuna simply replied.  Though she was a little tired of hearing this, cloaked player knew that she needed to remember this strategy if they wanted to beat the Boss and come out alive.

"I'll use a sword skill to knock their weapons up and out of the way," Kirito continued as they walked along the path after everyone else, "When I do, switch and jump in." This was something Asuna had yet to hear, so she was a little confused.

"What's a switch?" she asked curiously.  Kirito looked at her in shock.  How could she not know what a simple team member switch was.

"Okay," he said carefully, "Level with me.  Is this the first time you've been in a party?"  This would be the only viable reason she did not know a simple team movement.

"Uh huh," she nodded in confirmation.  Unknown to everyone at the time, this was also her first time in a VRMMORPG.  Kirito stopped in disbelief to this.  Asuna had walked quite a distance, not aware that he had fallen behind.  He sighed as he slumped his shoulders.  Why did he have to get stuck with novice team member.

"She looks nice," a voice said from next to him.  He jumped to a full two feet to the side, and was shocked to see Argo standing there with a smirk on her face.

"Argo?!" Kirito stammered, "I told you not to sneak up on me at least a hundred times now.  When are are you going listen?"

The Cait Sith put a finger to her chin, as if in thought.  "Hmm....Nope," she said with a catlike smile.  The swordsman sweat-dropped.

"Why are you even here?" he asked impatiently, "We have a Boss to kill, and I can't waste time talking."  He didn't add that he also had to deal with having an ignorant teammate.  If he did, he would never hear the end of it from her.

"The client wants me to tell you that they are willing to double the offer," she said, waiting for his answer.  Over the last few weeks, someone had been sending her to buy Kirito's `Anneal Blade +6.  Whoever this person was, they sure had their eyes dead set on that weapon to be asking again at a time like this.

"You're seriously asking me about that right now?" the swordsman asked The Rat in disbelief, "Right before we're about to fight the Boss, your client thinks it's a good idea to ask for my sword again?! Seriously?!"  He sighed before pulling a straight face.  "Look," he said in irritation, "Tell your client that for the last time, the answer is still no.  They'll have to look elsewhere for a good sword."

"Okay," Argo said in exasperation, "But you're missing out on quite the sum of Rul."

"I can get the same amount while fighting on the next Floor," was the reply.  With this, Kirito turned and began to head after the group, who had put a decent distance between them already.

Argo shook her head as she watched him catch up with Asuna, who had finally noticed that he had fallen behind.  "Either you're totally crazy, Kii-bou," the Cait Sith said with a smirk, "or you're something else entirely."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

After hours of fighting their way through the countless mazes within the Tower, the clearers had finally reached the doors to the Boss Room.

Diavel thrust his sword into the floor beneath him as he turned to look at the players.  "Listen up, everyone," he said firmly, "I've only got one thing to say to you..."  He paused to see the determined faces of all who stood before him before yelling out with bravado, "Let's win!"

Everyone gripped their weapons, preparing for the hard battle they knew was ahead.  With a push of his hand, the doors swung open to reveal a massive dark room.  At the end was a huge throne, where a large figure could be seen sitting in a brooding position.

As soon as the players entered, the room was filled with light, revealing a chamber that was twenty miles wide and a hundred meters deep.  Pillars stood at the sides of the marble floor, making the place seem like a castle of sorts.

<Illfang the Kobold Lord> jumped from his throne with a roar and landed in the center of the room.  He was massive, about two meters tall!  Thick, brick-red fur covered his body with a blue-grey diamond on his stomach, and he had eyes that glowed a bright copper-red.  In his right hand was a large bone axe, while a leather shield was held in his left hand to defend himself.  Four health bars appeared near his head as he bellowed out as if to challenge the players to test his strength.  Three human-sized creatures in suits of armor appeared, brandishing stone maces in their three fingered hands.

With a roar, the four mobs charged at the players.  Diavel pointed his sword toward the approaching foes.

"Commence attack!" he yelled.  With a roar, the players rushed to meet their enemy head on.  Diavel remained in the back, relaying commands to the attacking squads.  Agil's team was mostly in the front, providing defense for the other players.  Kirito and Asuna handled the minions, quickly dispatching them before handling the next wave.  A squad composed of four Sylphs were in the back as well, providing healing for the wounded and ready to resurrect anyone who accidental got themselves killed.  The battle lasted for what seemed like hours. With all that was happening, it may all well have been that amount of time.  Once one of Illfang's health bars disappeared, three more of his minions would spawn.

Squads A and C were currently hacking away at the Boss, slowly decreasing his last health bar.  Agil and Kibaou's squads blocked Illfang's axe whenever the Boss struck.  Kirito and Asuna were currently working on keeping The Ruin Kobold Sentinels away from their teammates.

Kirito blocked an incoming blow from a minion, sending it staggering back from the force.  "Switch!" he yelled as Asuna passed by.

"I'm on it!" she called as she charged with her rapier at the ready.  She moved with incredible speed as she cut the Sentinel multiple times, sending it to the ground with it's life bar depleted.

 _I thought she was a beginner_ , Kirito thought in awe as he watched the cloaked girl finish the mob off, _but she's got good skills.  I can't even she the tip of her sword._   "Right on," he said, impressed.  He then swung to block the blow of another minion as it leaped at him.

His attention turned to Illfang when he heard the Boss give the loudest roar yet.  The Kobold Lord was covered with bleeding cuts, slices, and bruises.  He saw that the last health bar was at one third of it's total health, signaling that he would be switching his weapons.  He threw his axe and shield away, just like in the guidebook.  Seeing his chance to strike, Diavel charged forward, prepared to deal the final blow.  This confused the swordsman, as the plan had been for everyone in the group to surround the Boss.  He locked swords with a minion as he continued to watch what happened next.

Illfang drew the massive sword fro  behind his waist, horrifying Kirito.  _That's not a Talwar_ , he thought in panic, _That's a_ _nodachi!  This isn't like the Beta!_   He threw the minion back as he called out in warning, "Wait, stop!  It's no good!  Get out of there!"  Kibaou heard this and looked at the teen in confusion.

Diavel hadn't heard this, as he continued to charge his sword while heading towards the Boss.  Illfang in response jumped into the air, proceeding to hop from on pillar to the next in a blur.  The blue haired Captain of the Guard was helpless as the Boss landed and sliced him across the chest, sending him flying back.  The clearers watched in horror before Illfang landed in front of them, roaring in fury.

Kirito ran to where Diavel had landed in a pool of blood.  A massive cut tore through his clothes and body.  He lifted his friend's head and saw his health bar steadily lowering into the danger zone.  "What the Hell were you thinking?" the young man asked as he pulled out a health potion from his bag.  The captain grabbed his hand, stopping him before he could give it to the wounded man.

"You know...," Diavel managed to say as he flinched from the pain, sweat dripping down his face, "You were a Beta Tester too, weren't you?"  Kirito gasped lightly.  The man who had led them here was an ex-Beta Tester!  The reason he charged at the Boss instead of sticking to the plan was that...

"You were after the last-attack bonus," he said in realization, "The rare item....You're just like me....A Beta Tester."  It was all coming together now.  His post, his skills, even his uneasiness when Kibaou spoke out against everyone from the Closed Beta were all because he was an ex-Beta Tester.

Diavel gave a weak smile.  "Please," he breathed out, "You have to....Defeat the Boss.  If you don't....Then they'll all have died in vain....Please....For everyone here....Beat the Boss..."  His eyes dimmed as he went limp in Kirito's grip.  His hand slid from the swordsman's hand and fell to the floor.  Disbelief was on the faces of the players as they saw their brave leader dead.  Even Asuna was shaken by this.  The Sylphs had already by now exhausted their magic, so they could do nothing to resurrect him.  He was gone for good.

 _When we first got trapped in this death game_ , Kirito thought to himself as he stared at the lifeless body in his arms, _the only thing I thought about was how I was gonna survive.  Nothing else mattered._   Memories of how he left Klein and lived on his own flashed in his mind.  _But you weren't like that, Diavel_ , he thought as he bowed his head in shame, _You never abandoned the other players.  You brought them together.  You led everyone, and you fought brilliantly.  You tired to accomplish something I couldn't._

He rose and turned to face the Boss attacking the players, his sword gripped tightly in his hand.  Diavel was right.  He had to beat the Boss.  If he didn't, then no one would.

 He felt someone come up next to him.  "I'll go too," he heard Asuna say with determination. No way was she going to let Diavel die in vain.  And there was no way she would let her teammate go in alone.

Kirito nodded to this.  As one, the two warriors charged towards Illfang.  "We'll hit him just like we did the minions," the male sword wielder said as they neared their target.

"You got it," his female teammate replied.  Illfang caught sight of the two, and charged his attack to strike.  Kirito did the same, and the two clashed with enough force to send the Boss staggering back unsteadily.

"Switch!" the teen yelled to Asuna as he landed on his rear.  She ran in, charging her attack.  Before she could strike, though, Illfang's eyes flashed.  He swung his sword, just missing the sword maiden as she leaped out of the way.  Her cloak was not so lucky, getting torn off her in the process.

Without the cloak, Kirito could finally see what his partner looked like.  She had long orange-chestnut brown hair that fell down her back and piercing hazel eyes.  Her outfit consisted of a dark red vest over a while long-sleeved tunic and a red skirt with white leggings.  A small lightweight copper breastplate covered her chest, and her feet were in leather boots up to her knees.  Kirito stared at the young and pretty girl for a moment, before looking back at the Boss.

"He's coming back!" he warned as he jumped to his feet.  Sure enough, Illfang was charging at them again with his nodachi held high, ready to cut them down in one fell swoop.  Kirito once again rushed and blocked the attack, giving Asuna the chance to drive her sword into the Boss' gut.  The Kobold Lord staggered back as blood spurted from his wounds.  He again rushed at the girl, but was blocked by Kirito.

The Boss tried again and again to strike, but was repeatedly blocked by the young swordsman.  He blocked another hit, before seeing the sword swinging again. He had no time to dodge as he was cut across his chest.  He flew back and slammed into Asuna, sending them both to the ground.  The female warrior saw his health depleted by half, before looking up to see Illfang looming over them, hatred gleaming in his eyes.  He rose his nodachi high and swung.

With a roar, Agil appeared from nowhere and knocked away the Boss' attack with his axe.  With a yell, the other player rallied together and ran toward the massive mob. "We can hold this punk off until your health's back up," the African said to Kirito, who responded by nodding with smile.  The clearers repeatedly struck at Illfang, trying to get past his sword to hit his skin.  They were all suddenly thrown back by a circular swing from the Boss, who then jumped up and swung down.

Seeing his friend in peril, Kirito painfully got to his feet and ran towards them, his sword glowing a brilliant blue.  " **You're going down!** " he yelled as he jumped up.  Illfang had no time to react, and was sliced across his back and stomach.  He plummeted to the ground, and shakily pushed himself up to his hands and knees.

"C'mon, Asuna," Kirito yelled as he ran forward.  A look of absolute rage was on his face as he neared the near dead Boss, "Help me beat this sucker!  One last attack!"

"You got it!" Asuna yelled as she ran next to him.  They yelled as one as they neared Illfang.  The Boss picked his sword up as he got to his feet, ready to defend himself.  He swung his blade down, only to be blocked by Kirito's `Anneal Blade +6`.  He staggered back, and was again cut by Asuna.

Kirito took the opening and struck the Kobold Lord across the stomach.  As Illfang stepped back in pain, the swordsman charged forward.  He jumped up, his sword ripping through the Boss' flesh.  With a final yell in fury, Kirito ripped from the Kobold Lord's stomach to his head open.  The Boss gave a final roar as he was thrown into the air from the attack.  His wounds glowed a bright blue, flooding the whole room with light before he exploded.

As the light died down, the clearers still alive saw Kirito on his hands and knees.  They stood there for a moment, before breaking out into cheers of victory.  They had done it!  They had beaten the Floor 1 Boss!  Aincrad could be beaten!  They had come out of this ordeal alive to fight another day!

Kirito rose to a hunched position, panting heavily.  A small screen appeared in front of him, declaring him as the one to give the last-attack.  With his money and XP, there was also an item he had been awarded, an item he thought he'd never see again.

"Nice job," Asuna said from behind him.  He turned his head and saw her, Agil, and the other players looking at him.

"That was some fine swordsmanship," Agil said with a proud smile.  He had finally seen Kirito at his best.  Not only that, but he was far better than any other player he had ever seen.  "Congratulations," he continued, "Today's victory is all thanks to you."  At this, everyone began applauding the young teen, overjoyed that the fight was finally over.

"Stop cheering!" a voice yelled.  Everyone's attention turned to Kibaou, who was sitting next to Diavel's body, his eyes closed in sorrow.  "Why'd you do ti, huh?" he asked accusingly, "Why'd you let Diavel die?"

"Let him die?" Kirito slowly asked, not understanding what the cactus-haired player meant.  Kibaou's eyes opened, revealing hatred at the young player.

"That's what I said," he growled, "Admit it.  You knew the technique the Boss was gonna use!  You could have told us!  Then Diavel would've stood a chance.  He wouldn't have had to die!"  Everyone began muttering at this, giving glances to the young man crouching with his back turned to them.

"I know why he knew!" a player yelled as he pointed in accusation at Kirito, "He used to be a Beta Tester!"  Think about it," he reasoned to his comrades, "He knew the Boss' attack patterns.  He knew, but he kept it from us!"  He looked around.  "And I bet he's not the only Beta Tester here," he added with a snarl, "C'mon, show yourselves!"

At this, everyone began muttering and looking at each other.  Any one of them could have been an ex-Beta Tester.  Even Agil and Asuna looked around; however, it was more to see what the other player's reactions were.  They themselves had no hatred for those who had been in the Beta.  Heck, Agil had known one himself.  He had not been near Diavel when he died, so he didn't know of the blue haired player's secret.

 _This is bad_ , Kirito thought as he hid behind a pillar, his friends unaware of his absence, _At this rate..._   He then remembered Diavel's last words.  He looked at the item in his storage, and gulped.  He then began to continue what he had been doing for behind the pillar, so that no one would see what he was doing.  If he didn't go through with this, there be dire consequences for everyone.

"Hey," Agil said, trying to reason with the angering crowd, "Calm down."  Asuna stood beside him, not looking back to see Kirito not where they had left him.  They were both trying to calm everyone down.  They were all upset over Diavel dying, .

Suddenly, everyone heard a voice laughing.  It sounded almost maniacal, filled with coldness and disgust.  They turned to see Kirito leaning on the pillar.  He now looked different, however.  He wore a long black collared coat that fell to his shins.  It was the `Coat of Midnight`, the rare item he had won from the Boss.  His face seemed darker as well, and had a mocking look with his eyes closed as if relaxed.

"So you guys think I used to be a Beta Tester?" he asked, his lowered voice echoing across the room.  He faced them as he added with scorn, "It's not cool to put me in the same class with those noobs."

Kibaou sputtered at this.  "W-what'd you say?!" he stammered angrily.  This punk had the guts to call the Beta Testers noobs?!  Who did this guy think he was?!

He began to walk toward them with a smirk.  "You heard me," he said nonchalantly, "Most of the 1,000 people who scored a slot in RAO's Beta were rookies."  He added with a chuckle,, "They were so green, they didn't even know how to level up.  Hell, even you guys are batter than they were."  He passed by a shocked Agil and Asuna and stood in front of a seething Kibaou.

"But me?" he with darkly, "I'm nothing like those guys, man.  During the Beta, I made it to Floors that were higher than any of the other Testers.  That's a fact."  He added in a hard tone, "In fact, I knew about the Boss, cause I've fought tons of monsters with _way_ more sword skills on higher Floors."

He had a dark and boastful smile as he added, "I know a bunch of other things, too.  More than you can imagine.  More than any info broker.  More than even the infamous Official News Gatherer The Rat."

"W-what the Hell?" Kibaou stammered in disbelief.  "If that's true than you're worse than a Beta Tester.  You're a freaking cheater, that's what you are!"  He was by know yelling in anger at the young player dressed in black before him.

At this, players started jeering and hissing at Kirito.  "He's a Beta Tester and a cheater," one called out in disgust, "He's a Beater!"  Asuna looked at the other clearers in scorn at their insults, but turned her attention back to Kirito she heard him chuckle.

"A Beater," he said, thinking of the name, "Yeah....That's good.  I like it."  Everyone gasped at this, shocked that he actually preferred the term given to him.  "Alright," he said with a nod of approval, "You can call me a Beater.  Just make sure you don't confuse me with those Beta Testers anymore."  He turned with a chuckle and began to head toward the exit to the next Floor.

As he walked up the steps to the door, he heard a voice say, "Wait."  Asuna was behind him, looking up at the swordsman before her.

"When we were fighting the Boss," she said, "You called me by my name."

Kirito didn't turn around as he said apologetically, making sure to keep a part of his tough guy exterior, "I wasn't trying to be rude."  He turned slightly as he asked, "Did I mess up the pronunciation?"  He hoped he didn't mess _that_ up, at least. That would've been embarrassing.

"How'd you even know it?" she asked in curiosity.  It made her uncomfortable that he knew what her name was without her knowing.  The fact that she didn't even know his name made it even more frustrating.

He turned some more as he pointed to where she could see his health bar.  "If you look right about here," he explained, "You can see you allies HP gauge.  There's a name written right next to it, yeah?"  He waited for her response patiently.  She was still a beginner at teams, so he decided to be nice.

She looked at the name next to his HP.  "Kiri....to.  Kirito?" she said after reading it.  Know she knew the name of this mystery man in front of her.  "You're name's Kirito."

"Yeah," he replied with his hands in his pockets.

Asuna stared at him for a moment in surprise, before giggling.  "I'm so dumb," she said in amusement, "It was there the time and I never knew."

Kirito just stared at her before turning back toward the door in front of him.  "You can become powerful here on your own," he advised, "But if the day comes when someone you trust invites you to join a guild, don't turn it down; cause there are limits to what a solo player can do."

"But," the sword maiden stated quietly, confused at this advice, "You're solo." 

Kirito didn't reply as he walked up the last steps.  He opened up his menu, and dissolved their party.  He said nothing as the doors before him opened.  He then entered the hallway, leaving Asuna alone on the stairs.  He didn't look back, knowing that if he did, he would never be able to go through with this.

"Did you honestly think I'd let you leave without saying goodbye," he heard from behind.  He turned to see Agil with his arms crossed, a look of sadness in his eyes.  "Why'd you do it?" he asked, referring to what he had just seen with the other players.

Kirito sighed before replying, "It was the only way.  If I hadn't done that, then the Beta Testers would receive all the hatred from everyone.  This way, they'll be safe from their scorn, as it will be focused on me."  He avoided looking at the African's eyes, opting to look at his feet.

"You're not coming back home are you?" his friend asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

The young player finally looked up at this question.  It hurt him to say what he said next, but he knew it was necessary.  "I can't," he apologized quietly, "If I do, then you'll all face that wrath, too.  I can't let that happen to anyone."  He looked his friend in the eye as he asked, "Will you make sure the girls finish their training?"

"Of course I will," Agil said with a nod, "I may not look it, but I can handle a sword pretty well myself.  Don't worry about it."

Kirito sighed in relief.  He was grateful for all the man had done for him, and knew that no matter what, he would respect his choices.  Even this one.

"I'll make sure to visit when everything dies down," he promised, "I don't know how long it'll take, but you'll see me again."  He held out his hand, which the African clasped tightly.

"When that happens," Agil said with a smile, "You'll still have a room in our home."  He would miss the young man,  but knew that their paths would cross again.  It may be a long time, years even, but he was willing to wait.

"I appreciate it," the swordsman replied.  They ended their handshake, and Kirito turned and began to walk down the hallway.  When he turned, he saw Agil walking down the stairs with Asuna to where everyone else was.

With a sigh, he turned back and continued on the path he set for himself.  Once again, he was alone.  Once again, he was an outcast.  But, most of all, he had once again taken up the mantle of the rumored warrior from back in the Beta Tests....A man who wandered the lands, never staying in one place for very long....A man who had been known only as a myth to most, having never had enough time to do more than catch a glimpse of....A man dressed in black, with a sword swung across his back.

...He had, once again, become the Black Swordsman.


End file.
